Optimizing API Gateway Strategies: Navigating Action-Based Pricing and Endpoint Design
When designing scalable APIs, choosing the right gateway solution is crucial — especially when pricing models influence architectural decisions. Recently, I’ve encountered a question that many developers and architects may find pertinent: How does the “action-based” pricing structure impact the way we structure our endpoints, and is consolidating multiple actions into fewer endpoints advantageous or detrimental?
Context and Challenges
In our current backend architecture, we employ controllers such as WidgetsController, implementing common actions like CreateWidget, GetWidgets, UpdateWidget, and DeleteWidget. Additionally, we have introduced specialized actions for distinct use cases, for example, GetWidgetsForUseCase1 and GetWidgetsForUseCase2. These specific endpoints provide clarity by encapsulating business logic tailored to particular scenarios.
Our design philosophy adheres to the DRY principle; shared logic resides within service layers, preventing code duplication. The use-case-specific actions primarily serve as clear interfaces at the controller level, rather than being redundant.
The vendor we’re evaluating has raised a concern: they recommend reducing the number of endpoints and managing behavior complexity through parameters or flags, leveraging their API gateway tools. While this approach can streamline the interface, it raises questions about the trade-offs involved.
Pricing Implications and Architectural Considerations
This vendor’s pricing model is action-based, meaning each endpoint or action incurs a distinct cost. Naturally, this can incentivize consolidating multiple specialized actions into single, more flexible endpoints. However, this raises several questions:
- Does merging specific actions into a single, more complex endpoint offer tangible benefits in performance or maintainability?
- Could this lead to overly complex internal logic, making the API harder to understand and maintain?
- How does this impact future scalability, especially if you plan to add more actions that return significantly different responses?
- Is there a risk of vendor lock-in by relying heavily on their tooling to manage intricate endpoint logic?
Balancing Focus and Flexibility
An additional layer of complexity is that future plans include additional actions that might return varied responses based on request parameters. This prompts a broader discussion: Should endpoints remain narrowly scoped for clarity and separation of concerns, or should they be consolidated for cost-efficiency and possibly simplified management?
Expert Insights Sought
What’s your experience with action-based pricing models? Have you successfully optimized your API endpoints to balance cost and clarity? Are there best practices or architectural patterns you recommend when dealing with many narrowly scoped actions
