Ceiba

Protect and productize your existing Node API.

Add API keys, plans, quotas, usage tracking, and subscription-gated access without building the full access stack from scratch.

Read the story behind Ceiba

When an API becomes a product surface, access gets harder.

Once an API is part of the product, you need to know who can use it, what plan they are on, how much they can consume, when access should be revoked, and how usage ties back to product or commercial rules. That work rarely stays simple for long.

What Ceiba helps with

A focused access layer for existing Node APIs — not a full gateway or broad API management suite.

  • API key issuance and revocation
  • Endpoint access policies
  • Quotas and rate limits
  • Usage tracking
  • Subscription-linked access
  • Express / Fastify integration
  • No gateway migration required

Who it is for

API-first SaaS teams

For teams exposing an API as part of the product and starting to need keys, limits, plans, and usage visibility.

AI / data API builders

For teams offering paid or usage-aware access to search, enrichment, automation, retrieval, data, or AI-powered endpoints.

Partner API teams

For B2B SaaS teams exposing selected endpoints to customers, partners, or integrators.

How it works

Three steps. No gateway migration required.

  1. 1

    Connect Ceiba to your existing Node API.

  2. 2

    Define keys, policies, and plans.

  3. 3

    Let Ceiba enforce access and record usage.

API keys first. Payment-native access later.

Ceiba's first version focuses on the access model most API teams already understand: API keys, plans, quotas, usage tracking, and subscription-linked access.

Longer term, Ceiba is being designed with room for payment-native access paths, including x402. The goal is to support future ways of paying for API access without making payment protocols the first thing teams have to adopt.

For now, the priority is simple: help existing Node APIs become controlled, understandable, and product-ready without a gateway.

Why not build it yourself?

The first 60% looks easy. The maintenance burden does not.

Many teams can wire up keys, a plan check, and a basic limit in a weekend. Keeping it correct over time is a different problem — especially when product rules change, customers churn, and usage needs to map to billing or entitlements.

Building parts in-house is reasonable. Ceiba exists to reduce the recurring work around:

  • key lifecycle
  • revocation
  • quota enforcement
  • billing sync
  • usage tracking
  • denial reasons
  • admin UX