TheMealDB · FinOps Profile

Mealdb Finops

FOCUS-aligned FinOps for TheMealDB: a freemium open-data recipe API with a zero-cost shared V1 tier and a one-time £10 lifetime supporter upgrade for V2 premium access. The dominant cost driver is the optional one-time upgrade rather than recurring usage-based charges. FinOps practice centers on deciding when to upgrade, caching static data to reduce request volume, and tracking any indirect hosting or bandwidth costs incurred by downstream consumers who cache and serve meal data.

Mealdb Finops is the FinOps profile for TheMealDB on the APIs.io network, aligned with the FinOps Foundation Framework.

It defines 3 billable meters, billed in GBP, on a one-time (supporter upgrade); free otherwise cycle, and pricing category freemium / one-time purchase.

The profile maps 8 FOCUS columns for cost-allocation reporting.

Tagged areas include FinOps, FOCUS, Food, Recipes, and Open Data.

Category: Open Data Pricing: Freemium / One-Time Purchase Billing: One-time (supporter upgrade); free otherwise FOCUS v1.3
FinOpsFOCUSFoodRecipesOpen DataFreemium

Framework Alignment

Framework
FinOps Foundation Framework
Data Spec
FOCUS v1.3

Charge Categories

Purchase

FOCUS Columns

BillingCurrency
GBP
ChargeCategory
Purchase
InvoiceIssuerName
TheMealDB
ProviderName
TheMealDB
PublisherName
TheMealDB
ServiceCategory
Open Data
ServiceName
TheMealDB Recipe API
ServiceSubcategory
Food and Recipe Data

Meters

supporter_upgrade
Unit: one-time
One-time £10 lifetime supporter upgrade charge that unlocks V2 API endpoints and a personal production API key. This is the only direct monetary cost of TheMealDB.
api_requests
Unit: request
API requests made against V1 (free) or V2 (supporter) endpoints. No per-request charge is levied; tracking is useful for rate governance and capacity planning.
cached_meal_data
Unit: record
Count of meal records, ingredient records, or category records cached locally by the consumer. Caching reduces API call volume and downstream latency.

Sources