There may be a tipping point where you're burning XXM/year in API costs and the maintenance cost of rolling your own can be justified. In the short term I agre

There may be a tipping point where you're burning XXM/year in API costs and the maintenance cost of rolling your own can be justified. In the short term I agree, and one thing to consider is how rapidly the space is evolving and whether your team can even keep up with the latest advancements. However, there will come a time when the bill comes due after launch and it will be very tempting to hire people to reduce the CapEx on the API.