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Tesla revealed its application programming interface (API) pricing this week, which lays out the cost to third-party developers wanting to plug their software into Tesla’s official in-vehicle software systems.
Up until this point, Tesla has operated without an official API for third-party app developers, which has led to a healthy ecosystem of apps that have been designed, at a relatively low cost, to improve the Tesla ownership experience.
Some of the most popular third party apps include TeslaFi, which keeps track of driving data and charging history in one handy app, as well as Tessie, which allows smartwatch controls for certain car functionality and has proven popular with fleet managers to track a number of vehicles and help manage costs.
We remain hopeful for good outcomes regarding the Fleet API pricing announcements.
We suspect that starting in January, all third-party services, loved by over a million vehicle owners a day, will see notable price increases to survive. We'll share more on this topic next week. https://t.co/FOGMs5wo0v
— Teslascope (@teslascope) November 28, 2024
This week, Tesla revealed its official API and the costs involved in using it, with prices ranging from $1 for 150,000 streaming signals to a developer’s backend to $1 per every 50 requests to remotely wake the vehicle from sleep.
Unless you are a software developer, this might not mean much, but Tyler Corsair, owner and developer of third-party companion app Teslascope, has said the new pricing will effectively cost 7.5-times more than the company’s current monthly income.
Similarly, the developer of the aforementioned Tessie app took to Reddit to explain that it would cost the company $60 million per year using current rates, while the official Teslemetry Reddit account joined the conversation and said it would cost $900,000 per year at our current rate. “That’s more than 25x my revenue,” the company posted on the popular social news website and forum.
Tesla announces API pricing that may kill third-party apps
Tesla has officially announced their API pricing, and the high prices are leaving third-party app creators questioning the future of their platforms.
Tesla has operated for years without an official API for third-party… pic.twitter.com/nVRjdD9eqY
— Joe Hansen (@joehansenxx) November 28, 2024
Some developers have already expressed ways that they can potentially get around the issue by avoiding the official API entirely, but others believe that the move will likely kill off a number of genuinely useful third-party apps.
The official Teslascope account took to X, formerly Twitter, to say that it remained “hopeful for good outcomes,” but that the company suspected that “in January, all third-party services, loved by over a million vehicle owners a day, will see notable price increases to survive”.
Neither Tesla nor founder Elon Musk has commented on the topic yet.
