My home ISP, as most are now, have "unlimited downloads". There's no limit on usage by numbers, because consumers don't like that. Instead there's limit on usage by style. I can't run a public server on it, and I don't get a business SLA. For home usage that's ideal, I don't need those things but I don't want to worry about limits.
These plans vs API keys issues are exactly the same concept.
My home ISP, as most are now, have "unlimited downloads". There's no limit on usage by numbers, because consumers don't like that. Instead there's limit on usage by style. I can't run a public server on it, and I don't get a business SLA. For home usage that's ideal, I don't need those things but I don't want to worry about limits.
These plans vs API keys issues are exactly the same concept.