OPENAI-COMPATIBLE API

Claude & GPT API
Simple, Pay-As-You-Go

APIVAI (apivai.com) is a pay-as-you-go API gateway for Claude and GPT models: one key for the Anthropic and OpenAI formats, priced below official list prices for most models. No subscription.

✓ Email signup only✓ From $10✓ OpenAI-compatible✓ Privacy first

Real Cost Comparison

Based on Claude Sonnet 4.6 usage (~4K input + ~1.5K output tokens per message)

Claude Pro

$20/mo
Rate limited

Official API

$0.0345/msg
~$17.25 for 500 msgs
BEST VALUE

APIVAI

$0.0132/msg
~$6.61 for 500 msgs

Popular models: Claude Sonnet 4.6 · Claude Sonnet 5.5 · Claude Opus 5.5 · Claude Haiku 4.5 · GPT-5.5 · GPT-6 Sol · GPT-6 Luna · All models → · Cost calculator →

Three Steps to Start

01

Sign Up

Email + verification code. No credit card, no KYC.

02

Top Up

Add balance from $10 by card or crypto, or ¥20 by Alipay / WeChat Pay.

03

Use

Chat in browser or integrate our API. OpenAI-compatible.

Why Choose APIVAI

The easiest way to use frontier AI models — no barriers, no subscriptions.

🌏

Simple, Reliable Access

Claude and GPT models through one API key. Sign up with an email code; the content of your requests and responses is never logged, only the model, token counts and cost.

✓Email signup only✓Multiple payment options✓OpenAI-compatible✓Privacy first
⚡

Pay As You Go

No $20/month subscription. A 2,000-token prompt with a 500-token reply costs $0.00517 on Claude Sonnet 4.6 and $0.0000672 on GPT-6 Luna. No waste, no commitment.

🔄

All Models, One Account

Claude Opus, Sonnet and Haiku, GPT-5.5 and GPT-6 — switch models by changing the model ID. No separate subscriptions needed.

🔌

OpenAI-Compatible API

Two formats on one key: Anthropic Messages at https://api.apivai.com and OpenAI at https://api.apivai.com/v1. Change the base URL, keep your code.

Who is APIVAI For?

Whether you're a student, developer, or need reliable AI access.

🎓

Students & Researchers

Explore AI without the subscription burden. Just a few cents per conversation, not $20/month.

Estimate: $0.50 – $3/mo
💻

Developers

Works with Claude Code and Codex CLI. Keep your tools and workflow, pay only for what you use. The estimate assumes 8 hours a month to 1 hour a day of Claude Code on Sonnet 4.6, before caching.

Estimate: $15 – $50/mo
🏢

Teams & Startups

OpenAI-compatible API, no contracts, 60 requests/min per key by default (higher on request). Scale from prototype to production with pay-as-you-go.

Estimate: $30 – $500/mo
🌐

Developers Anywhere

Sign up with an email code, then pay by card, crypto (USDT and more), Alipay or WeChat Pay.

Top-up from $10 or ¥20

FAQ

Frequently asked questions about APIVAI.

How is APIVAI different from the official API?

APIVAI is a pay-as-you-go gateway to the same Claude and GPT models. One API key works with the Anthropic Messages format (https://api.apivai.com) and the OpenAI format (https://api.apivai.com/v1). As of 2026-10-10, most Claude models cost 56–62% less than Anthropic's list prices and GPT models up to 86% less than OpenAI's: Claude Sonnet 4.6 is $1.15 / $5.74 per million input / output tokens, against $3.00 / $15.00 official. No subscription; top-ups start at $10. The official APIs also offer Batch, Files and embeddings, which APIVAI does not.

What models are supported?

As of 2026-10-10, 12 Claude models (from Claude Haiku 4.5 to Claude Fable 5.1) and 8 GPT models (including GPT-5.5). The full list with prices is on the pricing page, and GET /v1/models returns the models available to your key.

Is my data secure?

APIVAI does not store the content of your conversations or API requests. All traffic is encrypted via HTTPS. Your data passes through our proxy and is forwarded to the model providers and their infrastructure partners. We only log usage metadata (tokens, cost) for billing.

What payment methods do you accept?

We accept credit and debit cards, Alipay, WeChat Pay and cryptocurrency (USDT and more).

Can I try before I pay?

There is no free credit: signing up is free, and you use the API from a prepaid balance. Top up starts from just $10 (card or crypto) or ¥20 (Alipay / WeChat Pay). No subscription needed — pay only for what you use.

Does it work with Claude Code and Cursor?

Yes. Use your APIVAI API key with base URL https://api.apivai.com for Claude Code and the Anthropic SDK, or https://api.apivai.com/v1 for Cursor, the OpenAI SDK and other OpenAI-compatible tools.

Are there rate limits?

Each API key has a default rate limit of 60 requests per minute (RPM). This is sufficient for most use cases including Claude Code and Cursor.

What happens if I run out of balance?

Your API requests will return an error. Top up your account, then add budget to the key on the Dashboard, and it works again right away. No data is lost.

Get in Touch

Have questions or need help? Reach out through any of the channels below.