specification: FinOps Framework
specificationVersion: '1.0'
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/
provider: Open Brewery DB
providerId: open-brewery-db
publisherName: Open Brewery DB
serviceCategory: API
created: '2026-06-13'
modified: '2026-06-13'
tags:
  - Beer
  - Bottle Shops
  - Brew Pubs
  - Breweries
  - Cider
  - FinOps
  - Cost Management
  - FOCUS
description: >-
  Open Brewery DB has zero direct cost to API consumers. There are no usage fees, subscription charges,
  or metered billing. The API is free and open-source, community-supported, and infrastructure is provided
  by Cloudflare. FinOps considerations relate solely to self-hosting scenarios or the consumer's own
  infrastructure costs when building applications on top of the API.
costModel:
  type: free
  currency: USD
  baseCost: 0.00
  variableCost: 0.00
  apiCallCost: 0.00
  notes: >-
    No cost is incurred by API consumers. The project is permanently committed to being free
    and open-source. All endpoints, bulk downloads, and dataset access are free of charge.
principles:
  - name: Visibility
    description: >-
      Track API consumption patterns in your own application to understand usage and plan for
      potential self-hosting needs as volume grows.
  - name: Optimization
    description: >-
      Implement local caching of API responses (data changes infrequently via community PRs)
      and prefer bulk dataset downloads for high-volume read operations.
  - name: Accountability
    description: >-
      While there is no direct cost, consuming teams should account for indirect infrastructure
      costs (bandwidth, compute) when building production applications on the API.
domains:
  - name: Understand Usage and Cost
    capabilities:
      - Data Ingestion
      - Reporting and Analytics
  - name: Optimize Usage and Cost
    capabilities:
      - Architecting for Cloud
      - Workload Optimization
  - name: Manage the FinOps Practice
    capabilities:
      - FinOps Practice Operations
      - FinOps Education and Enablement
billingModel:
  pricingCategory: Free
  billingFrequency: none
  billingCurrency: USD
  chargeCategories: []
  chargeFrequency: none
focusColumns:
  ServiceName: Open Brewery DB
  ServiceCategory: API / Open Data
  ProviderName: Open Brewery DB
  PublisherName: Open Brewery DB
  InvoiceIssuerName: Open Brewery DB
  PricingCategory: Free
  PricingUnit: request
  BillingCurrency: USD
  ChargeCategory: Usage
  BilledCost: 0.00
optimizationRecommendations:
  - recommendation: Use bulk dataset downloads for high-volume workloads
    rationale: >-
      Downloading the full dataset in CSV, JSON, or SQL format from GitHub and importing into
      a local or managed database eliminates API dependency for read-heavy production workloads
      and reduces load on the community-operated infrastructure.
  - recommendation: Cache API responses locally
    rationale: >-
      Brewery data changes infrequently (community contributions via pull requests). Caching
      responses for 24 hours or more is appropriate and reduces unnecessary repeat requests.
  - recommendation: Use the metadata endpoint before paginating
    rationale: >-
      The /v1/breweries/meta endpoint returns total record counts for a given filter set.
      Use it to determine pagination depth before issuing paginated list requests.
  - recommendation: Self-host for production SLA requirements
    rationale: >-
      The API is MIT-licensed. Organizations requiring guaranteed uptime should deploy a
      self-hosted instance using the freely available dataset and open-source application code.
apis:
  - name: Open Brewery DB
    baseURL: https://api.openbrewerydb.org/v1
    tags:
      - Breweries
      - Search
      - Random
      - Meta
    serviceName: Open Brewery DB
    serviceCategory: Open Data API
unitEconomics:
  - name: Cost per 1K Requests
    metric: billed_cost / (api_requests / 1000)
    target: '0.00'
  - name: Cost per Active Consumer
    metric: billed_cost / active_consumers
    target: '0.00'
maintainers:
  - FN: Kin Lane
    email: kin@apievangelist.com