Cost for using Local API

[notsosuperman1]

What is the cost for using the local API? It looks like there is one remote API call to authenticate, and then all calls for the next 6 hours run locally? So, is there a cost for that authentication? If so, what is it?

Thanks!

[SLeon]

Good morning,

We do not restrict API Developers to using only one API Mode. Many developers' applications will utilize one Mode primarily, and failover to another in certain situations. Every enabled API Customer Key is always enabled for all three Modes (Local, Service, Remote).

Pricing information can be found on API Permissions. You can email/call our Vendor Relations department if you have further billing questions.

[notsosuperman1]

So there is not the ability to develop apps that would only use local API calls and not require the $30/mo fee?

[SLeon]

No.

You can email/call our Vendor Relations department if you have further billing questions.

[excalibur19]

Respectfully, I don't understand Opendental's decision to put the local API behind a paywall. If I want to build an internal tool/application to write data to my own database, that's hosted on my server, over my own local network - why is Opendental restricting me from doing that without paying a monthly fees?

If I am only using my own local resources, have a backup strategy in place and take responsibility for updates to the database, shouldn't I be able to use Opendental Local API, considering it's open source?

[SLeon]

Open Dental's stance on direct queries to a database are described in here. The important part to note is

These types of integrations are not supported by Open Dental, and support staff may not be able to fix databases that have been altered through dangerous integrations.

The Open Dental API is a service designed to enter data safely into customer databases. Extensive logic and validation is performed, so that objects created/modified via the API are identical to those made through the Open Dental software itself. There are nearly 300 API endpoints for safely interacting with the database, including subscriptions/events. The API is backwards compatible in the sense that developers will not experience "breaking changes" to their software when there are schema changes within Open Dental. The Local API makes web calls to our HQ servers to validate credentials (e.g. in case the customer has disabled the API key, etc.). Finally, this dll is not open source. These are some of the reasons there is a fee to use the API, regardless of the mode you're using.