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·5 min readwelcomeintromulti-ai

One Key, 5 AI Models: Welcome to aiapi.cheap

Claude, GPT, Gemini, Grok, and DeepSeek through one API key at 70-80% off list pricing. Built for solo founders and vibe coders who hate full-price bills.

Real Talk: Paying Full Price for AI APIs Is Painful

If you've ever opened your Anthropic billing dashboard at the end of the month and felt your stomach drop, you're not alone.

Claude is great. GPT is great. Gemini, Grok, DeepSeek — all great in their own way. But running them at full price, especially when you're vibe coding all day or shipping a side project on the weekend, adds up fast.

We built aiapi.cheap for one reason: you should be able to use the best AI models without rationing your tokens like it's wartime.

What aiapi.cheap Actually Is

One API key. Five AI providers. 70-80% off official pricing.

You get a single key (sk-aic-*), point your existing code at our proxy, and you're done. The same key works for:

  • Claude (Opus, Sonnet, Haiku)
  • GPT (GPT-4, GPT-4 Turbo, etc.)
  • Gemini (Pro, Flash)
  • Grok (xAI's model)
  • DeepSeek (cheap and surprisingly capable)

    • Want to try Claude for one task and Gemini for another? Just change the model field in your request. No new accounts. No new billing. No new keys.

    We forward your requests to the real AI providers — same models, same quality, same context windows. We just charge you less.

    The 2-Minute Start

    If you already have code using the Anthropic SDK or OpenAI SDK, all you do is change two environment variables:

    export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY="sk-aic-your-key-here"
export ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL="https://aiapi.cheap/api/proxy"

    For OpenAI SDK:

    export OPENAI_API_KEY="sk-aic-your-key-here"
export OPENAI_BASE_URL="https://aiapi.cheap/api/proxy"

    That's it. Run your code. It just works.

    Want a step-by-step walkthrough for Claude Code specifically? Check the Claude Code setup guide.

    Two Plans, No Subscriptions

    We kept pricing brutally simple:

    Basic (Free Forever)

  • 70% off all 5 vendors
  • 200 requests per minute
  • Pay-per-use only — top up when you need it

    • Pro ($19 Lifetime, One-Time)

  • 80% off all 5 vendors
  • 500 requests per minute
  • Priority support
  • One-time payment, no recurring charges

    • No monthly subscriptions. No surprise bills. You pay $19 once, you keep the discount forever.

    How You Pay

    Crypto only. USDT, BTC, ETH, and 100+ coins via Oxapay. No credit card required, no KYC, no waiting.

    Why crypto? Because our customers are international, and shoving everyone through Stripe was a non-starter. Top up your balance, your dashboard shows it instantly, you start making calls.

    Who This Is For

    You're probably a good fit if:

  • You're a solo founder or indie hacker watching every dollar
  • You vibe code with Claude Code, Cursor, or similar tools all day
  • You want to A/B test different models (Claude vs GPT vs Gemini) without juggling 3 dashboards
  • You're learning AI development and don't want a $200 bill from one bad loop
  • You want to run experiments and not feel guilty about every prompt

    • Probably skip us if:

  • You need a Fortune 500-style SLA contract
  • You require direct vendor support escalation
  • You're locked into a specific cloud provider's billing

    • We're built for builders, not procurement departments.

    Why One Key for 5 Providers Matters

    Here's the part that nobody talks about. Models change. Fast.

    Last year Claude Sonnet was the king. Then GPT-4o pulled ahead. Then Gemini 3 Pro caught up. Then DeepSeek shipped something that costs nothing and codes surprisingly well.

    If you locked into one provider, you have to:

    1. Sign up for the new vendor

    2. Add a credit card

    3. Get an API key

    4. Refactor your code

    5. Track yet another bill

    With aiapi.cheap, you switch by changing one string. Want to test if DeepSeek can replace your $400/month Claude bill? Change model: "claude-sonnet-4-6" to model: "deepseek-v3.2". Done.

    That flexibility is the whole point.

    What Stays the Same

    We don't modify, cache, or filter your AI responses. Every request hits the real provider.

  • Same context windows
  • Same model versions
  • Same output quality
  • Same streaming, tool use, vision, function calling

    • If it works on the official API, it works through us. We just route it through cheaper credits.

    What's Next

    We're shipping new things every week:

  • More vendors (looking at Mistral, Llama hosted endpoints)
  • Better dashboards with per-model spend breakdowns
  • Prompt caching support across providers
  • Free tier improvements

    • For the technical setup details, see the docs. For Claude Code specifically, the setup guide gets you running in 2 minutes.

    Real Numbers

    A solo founder doing 4-hour daily Claude Sonnet 4.6 sessions runs roughly $80-120/month at list price. With Basic plan (70% off): about $24-36/month. With Pro plan (80% off): about $16-24/month.

    That's the entire pitch. Same tools. Same models. Smaller bills.

    For context on how the Anthropic API works under the hood, their getting started docs explain the request format we mirror.

    Start Now

    1. Sign up at aiapi.cheap

    2. Top up with crypto ($5 minimum to test)

    3. Create your sk-aic-* key

    4. Change two ENV vars

    5. Ship

    No subscription. No commitment. If we break, you stop using us. Simple.

    Welcome aboard. Let's build.