specification: FinOps Framework
specificationVersion: '1.0'
schema: https://www.finops.org/framework/
provider: Mediastack
providerId: mediastack
created: '2026-05-30'
modified: '2026-05-30'
reconciled: true
tags:
  - FinOps
  - FOCUS
  - News
  - Apilayer
description: 'FOCUS-aligned FinOps for Mediastack: tiered monthly subscription plus per-request overage on paid plans, billed by apilayer as the publisher of record.'
sources:
  - https://mediastack.com/product
  - https://mediastack.com/documentation
  - https://focus.finops.org/focus-specification/v1-3/
alignedWith:
  framework: FinOps Foundation Framework
  frameworkUrl: https://www.finops.org/framework/
  dataSpec: FOCUS
  dataSpecVersion: '1.3'
  dataSpecUrl: https://focus.finops.org/focus-specification/v1-3/
publisherName: apilayer (operated by ipapi LLC)
serviceCategory: News & Media Data
billingModel:
  pricingCategory: Tiered Subscription + Pay-As-You-Go Overage
  billingFrequency: Monthly
  billingCurrency: USD
  chargeCategories:
    - Purchase
    - Usage
    - Tax
    - Adjustment
    - Refund
focusColumns:
  ServiceName: Mediastack News API
  ServiceCategory: News & Media Data
  ProviderName: Mediastack
  PublisherName: apilayer (operated by ipapi LLC)
  InvoiceIssuerName: apilayer (operated by ipapi LLC)
  BillingCurrency: USD
  ChargeCategory: Purchase | Usage
  ServiceSubcategory: News Aggregation
meters:
  - name: plan_subscription
    unit: month
    aggregation: sum
    dimensions:
      - plan_tier
      - billing_cycle
  - name: api_requests_included
    unit: request
    aggregation: sum
    dimensions:
      - plan_tier
      - endpoint
  - name: api_requests_overage
    unit: request
    aggregation: sum
    dimensions:
      - plan_tier
      - endpoint
  - name: historical_lookups
    unit: request
    aggregation: sum
    dimensions:
      - date_range_days
  - name: source_lookups
    unit: request
    aggregation: sum
    dimensions:
      - country
      - language
principles:
  - name: Visibility
    description: >-
      Track consumption in the Mediastack dashboard's usage panel; reconcile with the
      invoice line items issued by apilayer monthly. There is no programmatic usage API,
      so wrap calls with a client-side counter (or proxy) for real-time visibility.
  - name: Allocation
    description: >-
      Allocate spend by issuing one access_key per team or product line — Mediastack does not
      otherwise tag requests. Map the access_key in your internal cost ledger to the owning
      cost center.
  - name: Optimization
    description: >-
      Cache /sources responses (publisher catalog changes slowly). Cap pagination at the
      smallest `limit` that satisfies the use case. Use date-bounded historical lookups
      sparingly — they consume the same quota as live lookups. Upgrade plan tier when
      sustained overage exceeds 25% of the next tier's flat fee delta.
  - name: Accountability
    description: >-
      Designate a single owner per access_key. Set a dashboard usage alert at 75% and 95%
      of the monthly quota. For Free-plan stacks, configure clients to fail fast on
      `usage_limit_reached` so downstream consumers can degrade gracefully.