A Zen MCP alternative with nothing to install
Zen MCP (now PAL MCP) lets Claude Code consult other models, and you run it yourself with a key from every provider you want to call. This server does the second-opinion part as a hosted URL: compare asks two to five models the same thing at once, chat asks one, and a single prepaid key covers every model, plus web search, images and video.
Add the server to your client
The server is https://api.relayswitch.io/mcp, Streamable HTTP, with your key sent as a Bearer header. Keys start sk-relay-.
Claude Code
claude mcp add --transport http relayswitch https://api.relayswitch.io/mcp \ --header "Authorization: Bearer $RELAYSWITCH_KEY"Then /mcp in Claude Code lists the server and its tools.
Cursor
// .cursor/mcp.json (this project) or ~/.cursor/mcp.json (every project){ "mcpServers": { "relayswitch": { "url": "https://api.relayswitch.io/mcp", "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer ${env:RELAYSWITCH_KEY}" } } }}Check it from a terminal
curl https://api.relayswitch.io/mcp \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $RELAYSWITCH_KEY" \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -H "Accept: application/json, text/event-stream" \ -d '{"jsonrpc": "2.0", "id": 1, "method": "tools/list"}'What the client can call
The tools this page is about. The server lists 15 in all; the rest are on the MCP server page.
| Tool | What it does | Key |
|---|---|---|
compare | The same question to 2 to 5 models at once: every answer side by side with its cost and time. | Bearer |
chat | A conversation to any chat model, with a system prompt, images for the models that see them, and web search. | Bearer |
search | One web search: titles, URLs, snippets and dates, up to 10 results. | Bearer |
estimate | What a chat request costs on every model before it is sent. | none |
list_models | Every chat, embedding, rerank and transcription model with its type, the tool that runs it and its price. | none |
What each call costs, read live
From the catalog at render. The developer’s list price is shown where the catalog has it.
| Model | Input / M | Output / M | List input / M | List output / M |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gemini 3.1 Pro Previewgemini-3.1-pro-preview | $1.20 | $7.20 | $2.00 | $12.00 |
| Grok 4.6grok-4.6 | $0.60 | $1.80 | $2.00 | $6.00 |
| DeepSeek V4 Pro 0423deepseek-v4-pro | $0.792 | $2.376 | $1.32 | $3.96 |
| Kimi K2 Thinkingkimi-k2-thinking | $1.50 | $6.25 | — | — |
USD per million tokens. compare bills each model it asks at its own rate.
| RelaySwitch MCP | Zen MCP (PAL) | |
|---|---|---|
| Where it runs | A hosted URL; nothing to install | Your machine: Python 3.10+ and uv, installed from GitHub with uvx or the repo’s run script |
| Model keys | One prepaid key for every model on the catalog | Your own key for each provider you call (Gemini, OpenAI, OpenRouter, Azure OpenAI, X.AI, DIAL or a custom endpoint), or local models through Ollama |
| Second opinion | compare: 2 to 5 models at once, each answer with its cost and time; chat for one | Tools such as chat, consensus, thinkdeep, codereview, precommit, debug, planner and clink |
| Beyond chat | Web search, embeddings, rerank, transcription, and every image, video, speech and music model | Code-workflow tools over the models you configured |
| Tool list a client loads | Fifteen tools, about 4,200 tokens (measured 2026-11-03) | A Reddit thread titled “Zen MCP uses 40k tokens” |
| Billing | Prepaid balance, per token or per unit, read live; card or crypto | Each provider bills you separately |
What to ask once it is connected
Plain requests; the client picks the tool.
- Use compare to ask gemini-3.1-pro-preview, gpt-5.2 and deepseek-v4-pro whether this migration is safe to run, then tell me where they disagree.
- Before I merge, ask grok-4.6 with chat to find the bug in this function. Give it only the diff.
- Estimate what a 20,000-token review costs on each of those models, then run it on the two lowest-priced.
Zen MCP alternative: questions
Setup, models and billing.
Every model as a tool in your AI
From $10 by card or in USDT, USDC, BTC, ETH, SOL. Prepaid, no subscription, no KYC.