How much does it cost to engage WH Studio?

Engagements are scoped after a discovery call. Most projects begin with a fixed-scope proposal covering milestones, deliverables, and timeline.

How quickly can you start a new project?

Most projects can begin within one to two weeks once scope, timeline, and priorities are aligned.

Do you work with US startups and distributed product teams?

Yes. Projects are structured for US startups and globally distributed teams with clear communication windows and milestone-based delivery.

What is your development process?

Each engagement moves through discovery, architecture, UI implementation, backend delivery, testing, and launch support with clear documentation throughout.

What's the difference between REST and GraphQL APIs?

REST APIs use fixed endpoints with predefined data structures, while GraphQL allows clients to request exactly the data they need. REST is simpler and better for public APIs, while GraphQL excels in complex, data-heavy applications with varied client needs.

How long does it take to build a custom API?

A basic API with 5-10 endpoints takes 2-3 weeks. A complex microservices architecture can take 2-3 months. Timeline depends on the number of endpoints, integrations, and security requirements.

What authentication methods do you implement?

We implement OAuth 2.0, JWT tokens, API keys, and session-based authentication depending on your needs. All methods include encryption, token refresh mechanisms, and secure storage practices.

How do you handle API versioning?

We use URL versioning (e.g., /api/v1/, /api/v2/) as the standard approach, with proper deprecation notices and migration guides. We ensure backward compatibility for at least 6 months after new version releases.

What documentation do you provide?

We provide interactive API documentation using Swagger/OpenAPI, Postman collections, authentication guides, code examples in multiple languages, and error handling references.

How do you ensure API security?

We implement HTTPS encryption, input validation, SQL injection prevention, rate limiting, CORS policies, authentication tokens, and regular security audits following OWASP API Security guidelines.

Can you integrate with third-party APIs?

Yes, we have extensive experience integrating with payment gateways (Stripe, PayPal), social media APIs (Google, Facebook), communication services (Twilio, SendGrid), and enterprise systems (Salesforce, SAP).

What testing do you perform?

We conduct unit testing for all endpoints, integration testing with dependencies, load testing for performance, security testing for vulnerabilities, and automated regression testing.

How do you handle API rate limiting?

We implement tiered rate limits based on user plans, with clear headers showing remaining requests. We use Redis for distributed rate limiting and provide upgrade paths for higher limits.

What monitoring tools do you set up?

We configure error tracking (Sentry), performance monitoring (New Relic/DataDog), uptime monitoring (Pingdom), and custom dashboards for API metrics like response times, error rates, and usage patterns.

API Development · From $8,000

APIs built to last.

RESTful, GraphQL, and microservices architecture with enterprise-grade security and performance — built to be extended, not rewritten.

Get API Quote View Pricing

Node.js · Express/Fastify · PostgreSQL · Redis · Swagger/OpenAPI · Docker

Capability areas

Everything your API needs.

RESTful API Design

Scalable, industry-standard REST APIs
Proper versioning and deprecation
Interactive Swagger/OpenAPI docs
Code examples in multiple languages

GraphQL Services

Flexible GraphQL schema design
Efficient data fetching
Real-time subscriptions
Generated client types

API Security

OAuth 2.0 & JWT authentication
Rate limiting with Redis
CORS & input validation
OWASP security audits

Performance Optimization

Caching strategies
Database query optimization
CDN integration
p50/p99 latency monitoring

Packaged offerings

Ways to engage.

Basic API

5-10 endpoints, JWT authentication, API documentation, and basic rate limiting. Perfect for MVPs and early-stage products.

Starting at

$8,000

Advanced API

15-30 endpoints, OAuth 2.0 integration, real-time WebSocket support, and advanced monitoring. Production-ready from day one.

Starting at

$15,000

Enterprise / Microservices

Unlimited endpoints, microservices architecture, load balancing, and 24/7 support. Built for scale.

Starting at

$25,000

How we work

From brief to live API.

Discovery
API requirements analysis and endpoint design.
Architecture
Design scalable API structure and data models.
Development
Build, test, and document your API end-to-end.
Deployment
Launch with monitoring, alerting, and support.

Basic API build: 2–3wk
Microservices system: 2–3mo
Target reliability SLO: 99.95%
Backward compat guarantee: 6mo+

Field notes

What separates a real API from a JSON wrapper.

APIs are easy to ship and hard to live with. The ones that age well share a small set of properties: explicit versioning, idempotency keys on every mutation, strict schema contracts, and observability baked in from day one. WH Studio builds APIs that the team you hand them off to will actually want to extend, not rewrite.

Contract-first design

Every API we ship starts with an OpenAPI or GraphQL schema reviewed before a single endpoint is implemented. Consumers get generated SDKs and types on day one; producers get a CI gate that blocks backward-incompatible changes. This single discipline eliminates an entire class of integration bugs.

Idempotency, retries, and rate limiting

The internet is unreliable. Every mutating endpoint we build accepts an idempotency key, every read endpoint is cache-friendly, and every public surface has per-tenant rate limits. These are not nice-to-haves — they are what makes the difference between a 99.5% and a 99.95% reliability SLO.

Observability as a deliverable

Distributed tracing, structured logs with correlation IDs, and per-endpoint p50/p99 latency dashboards ship with the API, not after. When a customer reports "the API is slow," we can answer "for which endpoint, in which region, for which tenant tier" within minutes. See our notes on production discipline in the microservices lessons post.