For API owners
Sell your API without building the marketplace stack.
Turn a working API into a paid listing with hosted OpenAPI docs, per-request pricing, org Keys, rate limits, a daily Earnings ledger, and prepaid billing handled for you.
OpenAPI-first · Gateway-protected · Keep your full Price · Reviewed
$ curl -i https://eu-north-1.apimercado.com/v1/acme/fx-rates/quote
-H 'X-API-Key: mk_live_…'
200 OK · 14ms
{ "rate": 1.0921, "base": "EUR" }
key checked · balance ok · rate-limit ok · sent upstream
The API is only one part of the product.
A useful API still needs the systems around it before customers can reliably buy and use it: documentation, authentication, prepaid balances, rate limits, usage visibility, payouts, and a stable gateway in front of your upstream service.
- ·Skip building your own key management.
- ·Skip building prepaid balances, expiry, and receipts.
- ·Skip a custom billing integration for every price change.
- ·Stop exposing your upstream directly to every customer.
How it works
From working API to paid listing in three steps.
- 1
Connect your API
Point us at your upstream base URL and OpenAPI spec, with the auth your upstream needs and the API name, category, description, and support contact. We validate the spec (Spectral) and turn it into hosted reference docs.
- 2
Set your Price
Pick one per-request Price and a Max price ceiling. Publishing needs no Stripe setup; connect Stripe later, when you want Payouts.
- 3
Publish and monitor
Once approved, your listing appears in the catalog. Consumers enable it and call your gateway URL with org Keys while you watch the daily Earnings ledger, the request log, and gateway health.
Marketplace economics, with the math.
You set a Price per request and keep all of it. Consumers pay the platform fee: 10% on each top-up, plus a small proxy fee on every request. Your Earnings are recorded daily.
Example: $0.01 per request
Say your API costs $0.01 per request and serves 10,000 requests in a month.
- Consumers pay$100.50
- You earn$100.00
- Proxy fees$0.50
The proxy fee is never taken from your Price. Payouts start at $50.00. Payouts reach connected accounts in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, the EEA and Switzerland. Providers elsewhere still accrue Earnings, but cannot be paid until another rail exists.
How the money flows
Consumers prepay in dollars and spend them per request. The 10% platform fee is added on top of each top-up, so your Price stays whole. No checkout, invoices or dunning on your side.
Consumer organization
Gets a $1.00 Free buffer each month, tops up from $10.00
↓
Gateway
Each request is charged your Price plus the proxy fee
↓
You
Earnings daily, Payout monthly from $50.00
Purchased dollars stay valid for 18 months, spent oldest first.
How that compares
Provider share
- Most marketplaces
- 70-80% of the sale
- API Mercado
- 100% of your Price
Platform fee
- Most marketplaces
- 20-30%, deducted from your revenue
- API Mercado
- 10% on top of each top-up, paid by consumers
Getting paid
- Most marketplaces
- Funds held, then paid out on a delay
- API Mercado
- Monthly Payouts from $50.00
Upfront cost
- Most marketplaces
- Monthly fee or contract before you earn
- API Mercado
- $0 to publish, no Stripe setup required
Marketplace figures are observed ranges; no specific product is named.
Before you apply.
What you need
- ·A working HTTP API
- ·An OpenAPI 3.x specification
- ·A stable upstream URL
- ·A clear authentication model
- ·Example requests and responses
- ·A support contact
- ·A per-request Price decision
- ·A Stripe account once you want Payouts
- ·Permission to commercialize the API or data
Best fit
- ✓Data APIs
- ✓Finance, FX, market, compliance, analytics, or enrichment APIs
- ✓SaaS APIs with reusable value outside the core app
- ✓APIs with stable endpoints and clear response formats
- ✓APIs whose value can be priced per request
Not a fit yet
- ✕APIs without stable endpoints
- ✕APIs without clear documentation
- ✕APIs that need manual work for every customer request
- ✕APIs where you do not own the data or distribution rights
- ✕APIs that cannot tolerate gateway-based access control
Reviewed before it reaches the catalog
We review each API before it appears in the marketplace: checking that the OpenAPI spec is valid, endpoints are reachable, examples work, pricing and limits are visible, the support contact is present, the description is specific, the category is correct, and terms are linked. A listing goes live only when it is understandable, testable, priced clearly, and ready for external developers.
Ready to turn your API into a paid product?
Connect your API, validate your spec, and set your Price. We review the listing and wire it to the gateway, the docs, and prepaid billing.
Closed beta. Listings are reviewed before publication.