Metering
Stripe cannot see token usage, rows, requests, or credits.
You can bill customers, but Stripe still does not know what they consumed or when they crossed a real usage boundary.
For developers selling API access
Metered billing, quotas, and API keys for paid APIs.
Tapline gives developers selling API access the four things Stripe does not: plan-based API keys, usage metering, quota enforcement, and a customer usage portal.
It sits between your API and Stripe, so you keep your payment rail while adding the monetization layer customers actually need to use paid API plans.
Get early access
Join the list and we'll reach out when Tapline opens to early users.
We’ll email you when early access opens. No spam.
Tapline handles
Issue plan-based API keysTapline handles
Track requests, tokens, rows, or creditsTapline handles
Enforce quotas before abuse or overage surprisesTapline handles
Give customers a hosted usage and billing surfaceWhere Tapline fits
Tapline sits between your API and Stripe.
The value proposition is simple: keep your existing app and payment processor, then add the usage, enforcement, and customer-facing layer needed to sell API access cleanly.
Your API
Keeps serving traffic
Your handlers stay focused on product logic. Tapline does not replace your app or route traffic through a new gateway.
Tapline
Adds the missing monetization layer
Issue keys, meter usage, enforce plan limits, manage prepaid credits, and expose a customer-facing usage portal.
Stripe
Keeps payments and subscriptions
Tapline sits next to Stripe, not in place of it. You keep the billing rail you already trust.
AI APIsDataset APIsDeveloper toolsUsage-priced SaaS
Why this exists
Stripe closes the payment loop. It does not close the usage loop.
That gap is where paid APIs get stuck. If usage is the thing you sell, you still need metering, plan logic, quota policy, and a customer-facing control surface before launch.
Enforcement
Quota logic ends up in custom middleware you did not want to own.
Developers still have to build request blocking, grace periods, overages, and reset logic before they can launch paid plans.
Customer UX
Your customers need visibility before they hit limits.
Usage dashboards, API keys, top-ups, and billing-facing controls become one more product surface to design and maintain.
Launch drag
Weeks disappear into infrastructure instead of distribution.
Tapline exists to shrink the distance between a working API and a paid API that customers can actually buy and use.
Why not just Stripe?
Because collecting payment is not the same as managing API access.
Stripe is still the payment rail. Tapline is the usage, quota, and customer-operability layer that makes a paid API feel finished. The product is not a replacement. It is the missing control plane.
Product framing
Stripe handles payments. Tapline handles usage, quotas, API keys, and customer billing UX for paid APIs.
Payments
Stripe
Collects money and manages subscriptions
Tapline
Keeps Stripe in place and layers usage logic on top
Usage visibility
Stripe
Does not know token, request, row, or credit consumption
Tapline
Tracks per customer, per endpoint, and per billing period
Quota enforcement
Stripe
No request-level blocking or overage policy
Tapline
Supports block, charge, notify, and rate-limit behavior
Customer-facing tooling
Stripe
No API usage dashboard or hosted quota view
Tapline
Provides the control surface your API customers need
Area
Stripe
Tapline
Payments
Collects money and manages subscriptions
Keeps Stripe in place and layers usage logic on top
Usage visibility
Does not know token, request, row, or credit consumption
Tracks per customer, per endpoint, and per billing period
Quota enforcement
No request-level blocking or overage policy
Supports block, charge, notify, and rate-limit behavior
Customer-facing tooling
No API usage dashboard or hosted quota view
Provides the control surface your API customers need
What Tapline will handle
The high-friction parts of API monetization, collapsed into one system.
From plan-based API keys to customer-facing usage views, Tapline covers the parts of paid API infrastructure most teams end up building themselves.
Keys
Issue and rotate API keys per customer
Plan-aware keys, active status, revocation, and lifecycle management without building auth tooling from scratch.
Usage
Track the units your API actually bills on
Requests, tokens, rows, compute seconds, credits, or custom units captured per customer and per endpoint.
Quotas
Block, overage, or notify when a plan is exceeded
Hard caps, soft caps, grace windows, and rate limits handled at the control layer instead of ad hoc application logic.
Portal
Give customers a usage and billing surface
Show real-time consumption, plan limits, reset dates, and upgrade paths without spinning up a second app.
Pricing
Price low enough for indie builders. Serious enough to replace custom glue.
Tapline is being designed for teams that need real metering and quota infrastructure without jumping straight to enterprise billing software.
Free trial
Start with a free trial before moving to a paid plan. No credit card required.
Early teams
Launch paid API plans without building the billing layer first.
Starting at
$7+
per month
Free trial
No card
required to start
Usage tracking and quota enforcement
Plan-aware API keys
Hosted customer-facing usage surface
Built to sit next to Stripe, not replace it
Join early access
If this solves a real launch bottleneck for your API, get on the list.
Join the waitlist and we'll let you know when Tapline is ready for early users.
We’ll email you when early access opens. No spam.