Systems and methods are described for a routing service that identifies routes for providing a resource with the least cost for providing a resource configured for a data flow. The routing service can operate on various servers with varying functionalities in a distributed network topology. After establishing an application-programming interface (“API”) session, the routing service can send API-based requests to the various servers to obtain API-based routing information. The routing service can use the routing information to determine that a network performance metric exceeds a threshold for providing a resource on a requested route. Advantageously, the routing service can determine alternative routes using the API routing information and, further, identify the least cost route of those alternative routes. Finally, the routing service can provide a resource configured for a data flow (e.g., a video conference) via the least cost route.