Barcelona-based 3Scale Networks is launching its API management service today at the Plugg conference (which is run by TechCrunch editor Robin Wauters). With every Web startup releasing their own APIs as a matter of course these days, 3Scale offers a startups who don’t want to deal with all the hassles of managing their own APIs their own enterprise Web service that does it for them.
3Scale manages signups, tracks usage, offers user forums, stores online documentation, and handles online billing. The service runs on Amazon’s EC2, S3 ,and cloud computing Web services. 3Scale starts charging only once the billing for an API kicks in, which is usually above a certain threshold of free usage. 3Scale was previously in beta. Now companies can host their API management portal on their own sub-domain.
The startup will be competing with Mashery, which has been helping other companies manage their APIs for quite a while now. 3Scale co-founder Steven Willmott says that he is taking a more light-weight, self-serve approach, which he hopes will broaden the appeal of API management services.
So now we have more competitors with right scale, mosson and the rest of the gang?
good… I guess it’s good for start ups and other web developers.
I meet those guys at Techcrunch 50 last year – great product and definitely the next innovation to get make technology an enabler not a problem…
blaa
Congrats to Carlos and the team.
For most tech-centric people, this probably doesn’t seem like a big deal, but it is surprising how many big companies don’t have the resources/knowledge to build an effective API and manage it themselves.
I was surprised to discover that many companies want a solution out of the box that they can just tack on to their existing initiatives.
Congratulations to 3Scale on the launch! We at Mashery are thrilled to have another voice advocating the growth of APIs. 3Scale is taking an interesting approach to serving the needs of web startups, and we wish them all the best.
In particular, it will be interesting to see the applications that can be built by combining new web services from startups with the APIs Mashery has launched for companies like Best Buy, Netflix, the Guardian, Billboard and the New York Times. We expect a lot of discussion on this topic at the Circus Mashimus lounge at SXSW this weekend, and hope that lots of TC readers will come by.
Oren Michels
CEO
Mashery
Isnt dealing with APi so Web 2.0? These days sites can barely stay alive, let alone have API, etc…
Sounds like gnip.
with so many startups using Amazon’s infrastructure, why doesnt Amazon sponsor this blog?
Ha! Everyone is using Amazon EC2 (isn’t that a SPoF??).