Build vs Buy: When to Use an API Instead

"We could build that ourselves." Every developer has said it. And sometimes it's true. But sometimes "building it ourselves" turns into three months of work that a $20/month API would have solved in an afternoon. The build vs. buy decision is deceptively simple. Most teams get it wrong by either over-building or over-buying. Here's how to get it right. The Real Question It's not "can we build this?" — of course you can. Given enough time and resources, a good engineering team can build almost anything. The real question is: should we spend our limited time and resources building this, or should we spend them on something else? That's an opportunity cost question, not a technical one. When to Build Building makes sense when the capability is core to your business or when nothing on the market fits your specific needs. It's your competitive advantage If you're a fintech company and fraud detection is what differentiates you, building your own fraud models makes sense. That's your moat. Y