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
Existing Node APICeiba SDKRuntime checkAllow / Deny
Record usage

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

Once an API becomes part of the product, access becomes product logic. You need to know:

  • who can use it
  • what plan they are on
  • how much they can consume
  • when access should be revoked
  • how usage ties back to commercial rules

That work rarely stays simple for long.

A focused access layer for existing Node APIs.

Keys, policies, plans, quotas, and usage — without turning your API into a gateway migration project.

What Ceiba helps with

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

How it works

  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.

Built first for teams whose API is becoming a product surface.

Who it is for

01

API-first SaaS teams

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

02

AI / data API builders

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

03

Partner API teams

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

API keys first. Payment-native access later.

Ceiba starts with the access model most API teams already understand: keys, plans, quotas, usage tracking, and subscription-linked access. Longer term, it is being designed with room for payment-native access paths, including x402, without making payment protocols the first thing teams have to adopt.

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 of this in-house is reasonable. Ceiba exists to reduce the recurring work around:

recurring burden

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

Ceiba is in active development. Early access is opening gradually so the first version can be shaped with the right API teams, real onboarding feedback, and disciplined scope.

If you are building or running an API and starting to think about keys, quotas, usage, partner access, or subscription-linked API access, I’d like to hear from you.