API Versioning Calculator
Calculate concurrent API versions and maintenance cost multiplier from active versions, deprecation period, and release frequency.
How to Use the API Versioning Calculator
- Enter number of currently active API versions.
- Enter deprecation support period in months.
- Enter release frequency in months.
- Click Calculate to see concurrent versions and maintenance cost.
Casi d'Uso
- •Planning API versioning strategy for platform APIs.
- •Estimating maintenance cost of long deprecation periods.
- •Building the business case for shorter support windows.
- •Designing API lifecycle policies for developer platforms.
Formula
Concurrent versions = ceil(deprecation period / release frequency) + 1. Maintenance multiplier = concurrent / active versions.
Domande Frequenti
How long should I support old API versions?
Industry standard is 6–12 months deprecation notice. Major APIs (Stripe, Twilio) support versions for 2+ years.
How do I communicate version deprecation?
Use Sunset HTTP header, deprecation notices in docs, email notifications to API consumers, and sunset dates.
URL vs header versioning?
URL versioning (/v1/resource) is more visible and cacheable. Header versioning (Accept: application/v2+json) is cleaner but less discoverable.