An API is a way through which a computer on the internet can communicate to another computer on the internet. APIs are a very powerful tool for developers especially for the young developers who wants to experiment with new things and want to create projects to showcase them in their portfolio. They are constantly looking for free APIs that can be useful in their projects. There are several types of APIs out there but the REST has become probably the most dominant API on the internet today.
For Example: If you go to Amazon.com your web browser is communicating with their servers to display products on your computer screen.
But the Free REST APIs are hurting the bitcoin cash ecosystem. Top Free APIs that exist in Bitcoin Cash Ecosystem
Electrumx servers by Electron Cash
Cashshuffle
SLPDB
BitDB
There is no problem with anything for free but these free resources require significant computational resources to run. With more and more people using these services they might have serious scaling issues because these services were developed without anything to monetize them and they are open to abuse. Here the problem is no that the people are not using the service but too many people are using the service and they need some sort of monetization system to continue to entertain those people. They need to find out a way to move people from FREE to paid service so that the End-user could pay for it.
In the end, I just want to conclude that the developers should never abuse the REST APIs so that these free services can be used for any good and serious projects. I also want to encourage people to invest in these kinds of projects and donate them.