Best Practices for Hosting Public APIs: Should You Use a Separate Instance?

In the modern SaaS landscape, many development teams separate their front-end and API layers to enhance scalability and maintainability. But what happens when you want to enable third-party developers to leverage your API?

A common question arises: should you host your public API on a dedicated environment or endpoint? For example, creating a distinct subdomain like api.example.com to serve external developers, separate from your internal APIs used by your web and mobile applications?

This approach isn’t just about organization—it’s also about security, performance, and ease of management. By isolating your public API, you can implement tailored access controls, monitor usage more effectively, and reduce the risk of unintended interference with internal services.

Many organizations adopt a strategy of deploying a dedicated API gateway or endpoint for external integrations. This setup allows for better traffic management, simplified scaling, and more granular security policies. It also facilitates versioning and documentation efforts, ensuring third-party developers have a consistent and reliable interface to build upon.

In summary, if you’re planning to open your SaaS API to third parties, consider hosting a separate API layer on its own endpoint. Doing so can improve your system’s robustness, security, and developer experience, ultimately supporting your growth and innovation efforts.