--- title: "Cheap Claude API: per-token access, not Claude Pro" canonical: https://relayswitch.io/cheap-claude-api generated: 2026-11-15T03:15:10.466Z source: https://api.relayswitch.io/v1/catalog base_url: https://api.relayswitch.io/v1 --- Models / Claude # Cheap Claude API access, billed per token RelaySwitch sells API access to 13 Claude models, billed per token from a prepaid balance. The key runs in Claude Code and in any client that takes a base URL and a key. RelaySwitch is not Anthropic, is not affiliated with Anthropic and does not sell Claude Pro or Max. Minimum top-up $10 Pay with USDT, USDC, BTC, ETH, SOL, or card Sign-up An email address, or sign in with Google or GitHub. No phone number, no identity documents. Models 323 on one key, prices read live Base URL `https://api.relayswitch.io/v1`OpenAI Chat Completions and Responses on 314 models, Anthropic Messages on 314, Gemini generateContent on 314 One message, example $0.00031 on Manta Flash 1.0; $0.0033 on Claude Sonnet 5.5 for one 2K-in / 300-out turn Subscription None. Prepaid credit, billed per token. Model check [daily real-model check](https://relayswitch.io/proof) [Get a key](https://app.relayswitch.io/console)[Claude Code setup](https://relayswitch.io/guides/claude-code) 13Claude models on the key $3.00Claude Sonnet 5.5 output / M$10.00 on Anthropic's list 70%Largest saving under Anthropic's listcomputed from the catalog today $10First top-upcredit does not expire What this is ## Claude Pro and the Claude API are two products The plan facts are from Anthropic's pricing page at [claude.com/pricing](https://claude.com/pricing), read 2026-11-11. Check that page before you buy; plans change. ### Claude Pro, Max and Ultra, from Anthropic - Subscriptions sold by Anthropic: Pro $20, Max $100, Ultra $200 a month on 2026-11-11. - Each is a plan for the Claude apps, with Claude Code included. - Usage has limits: every 5 hours and every week on Pro and Max, every week on Ultra. The pricing page states none of them in tokens. - RelaySwitch does not sell, discount, share or resell these plans. ### Claude by API, on this key - The Claude models answer Anthropic's Messages format at `https://api.relayswitch.io/v1/messages` and the OpenAI format at `https://api.relayswitch.io/v1/chat/completions`. - Each request bills per token at the rates below, from a prepaid balance in USD. The first top-up is $10, by card or in USDT, USDC, BTC, ETH, SOL. - Claude Code runs on the key with two environment variables. Any client with a base URL field and a key field takes it too. - The key does not sign in to claude.ai or the Claude apps. The [playground](https://relayswitch.io/playground) chats with any model on the key in a browser. Who runs this RelaySwitch is operated by Uplink Switch LLC. It is not Anthropic and has no affiliation with Anthropic. Claude is Anthropic's name for its models. Live prices ## Every Claude model on the key USD per million tokens, read from the catalog at render. Anthropic's list price beside ours where the catalog has it. | Model | Input | Cached | Output | Developer list in / out | Context | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | [Claude Fable 5.1](https://relayswitch.io/models/claude-fable-5.1) | $6.00 (40% under) | $2.00 | $30.00 (40% under) | $10.00 / $50.00 | 1M tokens | | [Claude Fable 5.2](https://relayswitch.io/models/claude-fable-5.2) | $4.00 (50% under) | $0.10 | $20.00 (50% under) | $8.00 / $40.00 | 1M tokens | | [Claude Fable 5](https://relayswitch.io/models/claude-fable-5) | $3.00 (70% under) | $0.30 | $15.00 (70% under) | $10.00 / $50.00 | 1M tokens | | [Claude Opus 5.5](https://relayswitch.io/models/claude-opus-5-5) | $2.716 (32% under) | $0.1455 | $9.70 (51% under) | $4.00 / $20.00 | 1M tokens | | [Claude Sonnet 4.6](https://relayswitch.io/models/claude-sonnet-4-6) | $1.80 (40% under) | $0.18 | $9.00 (40% under) | $3.00 / $15.00 | 1M tokens | | [Claude Opus 4.6](https://relayswitch.io/models/claude-opus-4-6) | $1.80 (64% under) | $0.16 | $7.50 (70% under) | $5.00 / $25.00 | 1M tokens | | [Claude Opus 4.7](https://relayswitch.io/models/claude-opus-4-7) | $1.80 (64% under) | $0.16 | $7.50 (70% under) | $5.00 / $25.00 | 1M tokens | | [Claude Opus 4.8](https://relayswitch.io/models/claude-opus-4-8) | $1.80 (64% under) | $0.16 | $7.50 (70% under) | $5.00 / $25.00 | 1M tokens | | [Claude Opus 5](https://relayswitch.io/models/claude-opus-5) | $1.80 (64% under) | $0.16 | $7.50 (70% under) | $5.00 / $25.00 | 1M tokens | | [Claude Haiku 4.5](https://relayswitch.io/models/claude-haiku-4-5) | $0.60 (40% under) | $0.06 | $3.00 (40% under) | $1.00 / $5.00 | 200K tokens | | [Claude Sonnet 5](https://relayswitch.io/models/claude-sonnet-5) | $1.20 (40% under) | $0.12 | $3.00 (70% under) | $2.00 / $10.00 | 1M tokens | | [Claude Sonnet 5.5](https://relayswitch.io/models/claude-sonnet-5-5) | $1.20 (40% under) | $0.075 | $3.00 (70% under) | $2.00 / $10.00 | 1M tokens | | [Claude Haiku 5.5](https://relayswitch.io/models/claude-haiku-5-5) | $0.0582 (41% under) | $0.01 | $0.1455 (70% under) | $0.10 / $0.50 | 1M tokens | 13 Claude ids, dearest output first. The percent in brackets is how far a rate sits under Anthropic's list price. Cached input is priced lower where the row supports it. What a month costs ## Per-token billing at three usage levels One agent turn late in a coding session: 80,000 cached tokens, 2,000 new input tokens and 1,500 output tokens. A month is 20 working days. The turn size is an assumption; the rates are today's. | Model | One turn | Light, 30 turns a day / month | Steady, 150 turns a day / month | Heavy, 400 turns a day / month | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | [Claude Opus 5.5](https://relayswitch.io/models/claude-opus-5-5) | $0.0316 | $18.97 | $94.87 | $252.98 | | [Claude Sonnet 5.5](https://relayswitch.io/models/claude-sonnet-5-5) | $0.0129 | $7.74 | $38.70 | $103.20 | | [Claude Haiku 5.5](https://relayswitch.io/models/claude-haiku-5-5) | $0.0011 | $0.6808 | $3.40 | $9.08 | Computed at render from the live rates, cached input at the cached rate. Your own sessions differ with repo size and turn count; the signed receipt on each request has the real charge. | Anthropic plan, 2026-11-11 | Turns on Claude Opus 5.5 | Turns on Claude Sonnet 5.5 | Turns on Claude Haiku 5.5 | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Pro, $20 a month | 632 | 1,550 | 17,626 | | Max, $100 a month | 3,162 | 7,751 | 88,132 | | Ultra, $200 a month | 6,324 | 15,503 | 176,265 | The plan's monthly price divided by the cost of one turn above, rounded down. This converts the price into per-token turns here; the plan's own allowance is not stated in tokens. To read the two tables, count your turns on a working day, find the nearest column and set that month beside the plan price. A day with no requests draws nothing from the balance. Setup ## Claude Code and the Anthropic SDK Two values change: the base URL becomes https://api.relayswitch.io/v1 and the key becomes yours. ### Claude Code bash 1`export ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL="https://api.relayswitch.io/v1"` 2`export ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN="sk-relay-..."` 3`claude` The [Claude Code guide](https://relayswitch.io/guides/claude-code) has the settings.json form, the model aliases and a key with a budget for Claude Code alone. ### Python, with the Anthropic SDK python 1`import anthropic` 2 3`client = anthropic.Anthropic(base_url="https://api.relayswitch.io/v1", api_key="sk-relay-...")` 4`reply = client.messages.create(` 5 `model="claude-sonnet-5-5",` 6 `max_tokens=300,` 7 `messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Hello"}],` 8`)` 9`print(reply.content[0].text)` Cursor, the OpenAI SDK and other OpenAI-format clients call the same ids through the [OpenAI-compatible API](https://relayswitch.io/openai-compatible-api). Related - [Claude Code setup](https://relayswitch.io/guides/claude-code) - [Claude API pricing hub](https://relayswitch.io/pricing/claude) - [Claude Code free tier](https://relayswitch.io/claude-code-free-tier) - [Claude API proxy](https://relayswitch.io/claude-api-proxy) - [Claude by API, no KYC](https://relayswitch.io/anonymous-claude-api) - [OpenAI-compatible API](https://relayswitch.io/openai-compatible-api) - [Daily real-model check](https://relayswitch.io/proof) FAQs ## Cheap Claude API: questions Claude Pro, Claude Code, Max and the bill. Open the console A key in under a minute [Get a key](https://app.relayswitch.io/console) Or email [hello@relayswitch.io](mailto:hello@relayswitch.io) ### ### ### ### ### ### ### ## Claude by the token, from a $10 top-up By card or in USDT, USDC, BTC, ETH, SOL. Set two environment variables and Claude Code runs on the key. [Claude Code setup](https://relayswitch.io/guides/claude-code)[Get a key](https://app.relayswitch.io/console)