Rapid API: Advantages of using it; Gita APIs on it
- I think the gray colour indicates that it will not apply to me. Anyway I have not provided any card or bank info. But even then, that 1 cent per 1MB message being shown is disconcerting. Ideally, it should not be shown at all. The platform can simply stop responding to API requests once the bandwidth platform limit is reached.
🔎 What RapidAPI does provide
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As an API provider you can list your existing API on RapidAPI Hub. That gives your API exposure to a large community. (RapidAPI)
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RapidAPI handles user-management, authentication (via their API key), monetization/subscription plans, billing, analytics, usage tracking, and rate-limiting — i.e. the “marketplace infrastructure.” (get.rapidapi.com)
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For enterprises, there’s also RapidAPI Enterprise Hub, which acts as a “private API hub” — useful for internal APIs across teams, or partner/customer-facing APIs. (RapidAPI)
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RapidAPI gives tools (via RapidAPI Studio) to help you define API endpoints, docs, plans, and manage the “exposed-API” side. (rapidapi.com)
⚠ What RapidAPI does not provide — you need your own backend infrastructure
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It does not act as a hosting environment where you write server-side code (e.g. Node/Express) or store data (e.g. MySQL, files, persistent storage).
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The API exposed through RapidAPI must already be hosted somewhere — e.g. on your own server, cloud virtual machine, serverless functions (AWS Lambda, etc.), or any hosting provider you choose. RapidAPI simply routes calls from users (developers) to your backend. This is shown in how RapidAPI’s “gateway / runtime” forwards requests to your defined “Base URL” or an external gateway. (RapidAPI)
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RapidAPI does not implicitly give you database hosting, storage, compute, or server maintenance; those remain your responsibility.
✅ What that means for you (practically)
If you want to publish your API on RapidAPI:
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You still need to build your API backend (e.g. using Node/Express, or any serverless framework) and host it somewhere accessible (cloud VM, serverless provider, etc.).
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Once hosted, you can then register that hosted API in RapidAPI — using its “Base URL” / gateway configuration — and let RapidAPI handle the public-facing parts: keys, monetization, billing, documentation, analytics.
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RapidAPI helps you package your API as a service easily for other developers — but it does not replace your hosting or database infrastructure.
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Below are the main motivations (from experience and what API providers openly state):
✅ 1. RapidAPI gives global visibility and traffic “for free”
RapidAPI is the largest API marketplace.
If you publish an API there:
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Developers can discover it easily.
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It appears in search when users type “Gita”, “books”, “scriptures”, “Hindu”, “spirituality”, etc.
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You get thousands of potential consumers without marketing.
For small open-source spiritual projects, this is a huge benefit.
✅ 2. RapidAPI handles API keys, throttling, analytics, abuse protection
Running an open free API publicly has risks:
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People may hammer the endpoint
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Bots may scrape aggressively
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Cloud hosting bills may explode
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Some users misuse or DDoS the server
RapidAPI solves all of this:
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RapidAPI handles API key generation
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They provide rate limiting (e.g., 50 requests/min)
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They provide usage analytics
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They block abusive patterns for you
So the provider doesn’t need to build authentication, key management, or logs.
✅ 3. RapidAPI gives a uniform, reliable “developer experience”
A standalone API must provide:
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API docs
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Code examples
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Test interface (like GraphQL playground or Swagger)
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Environment for trying out queries
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SDKs or snippets
RapidAPI automatically provides:
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Auto-generated documentation
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Built-in “Test Endpoint” UI
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Auto-generated code snippets for many languages
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A clean dashboard
This dramatically reduces the maintenance burden.
✅ 4. Providers don’t need to manage CORS, headers, SDKs
RapidAPI acts as a proxy.
It handles:
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CORS
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complex headers
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standardization
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rate-limiting
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retries
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API key validation
This removes a lot of backend work.
✅ 5. The provider may be using free or fragile hosting
Many free APIs (including Gita APIs) are hosted on:
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low-cost VPS
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cheap shared hosting
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free-tier cloud (Heroku free tier, Vercel free functions, Render free tier)
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or GitHub Pages JSON files
These environments can have:
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limits
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uptime issues
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slow response
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IP blocks
By routing traffic through RapidAPI’s proxy:
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RapidAPI becomes a “buffer”
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Traffic patterns are smoothed
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The provider’s backend isn’t directly exposed
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Even if backend is slow, RapidAPI clients see more stable behavior
✅ 6. RapidAPI removes the need to maintain API infrastructure
If the original developer wants to:
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stop maintaining a server
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avoid running a full backend
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avoid keeping up an AWS/Node/MySQL environment
They can move to:
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GitHub JSON
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a simple static endpoint
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or a minimal serverless function
And let RapidAPI be the public entry point.
✅ 7. Some APIs originally had monetization plans
Even if they are free today, many free Gita APIs on RapidAPI:
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originally had a small paid plan
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later made it free
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or used RapidAPI monetization but set price to $0
RapidAPI made it easy to switch between free/paid without changing the API URL.
Summary — Why Bhagavad Gita APIs like this use RapidAPI
| Reason | Benefit |
|---|---|
| Global visibility | Instant reach to millions of developers |
| No need to build auth system | RapidAPI handles API keys |
| Usage tracking | Analytics dashboard |
| Abuse protection | Proxy + throttling |
| No need for hosting complexity | Backend can be simple |
| Easy testing/playground | Developers can explore API quickly |
| Monetization flexibility | Free now, but can be monetized later |
So even a free, goodwill-based API benefits a lot from RapidAPI.
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