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Cheap Chinese AI model API

For DeepSeek, Kimi, GLM and Qwen from one key, Somnus gives you 6 models on one OpenAI-compatible key. Usage is billed at list price but every top-up is credited 2× to 2.5×, so DeepSeek V4.1 Flash — the cheapest option here — effectively costs $0.075 / $0.3 per 1M input/output tokens.

Choosing a cheap chinese ai model api

Chinese labs ship some of the best price-to-quality models available, especially for coding and long context. Signing up with each lab separately means several accounts, payment methods and balances.

Somnus puts them behind one key and one balance, billed in USD, alongside Claude, GPT and Gemini, so you can compare them on your own prompts.

Cheap Chinese AI model API: price ranking

#	Model	Maker	List (in / out)	Effective with Somnus
1	DeepSeek V4.1 Flash	DeepSeek	$0.15 / $0.6	$0.075 / $0.3
2	DeepSeek V4 Flash	DeepSeek	$0.22 / $0.66	$0.11 / $0.33
3	DeepSeek V4 Pro	DeepSeek	$0.66 / $1.98	$0.33 / $0.99
4	GLM 5.3	Zhipu	$1.4 / $4.4	$0.7 / $2.2
5	Qwen 3.8 Max	Alibaba	$1.65 / $4.95	$0.825 / $2.475
6	Kimi K3	Moonshot	$3 / $15	$1.5 / $7.5

Ranked by blended price (3 input : 1 output tokens).

Why Somnus for cheap chinese ai model api

Somnus buys model access in bulk and passes the saving on as extra credit.
Pay-as-you-go. No monthly caps or throttling — spend your balance however you like.
$10 free credit after card verification.
Switch models by changing one string — same key, same balance.

Point the OpenAI SDK at Somnus

javascript

import OpenAI from "openai";

const client = new OpenAI({
  apiKey: process.env.SOMNUS_API_KEY,
  baseURL: "https://somnus.world/api/public/gateway/v1",
});

const resp = await client.chat.completions.create({
  model: "claude-sonnet-5",
  messages: [
    {"role": "user", "content": "Cheap Chinese AI model API"}
  ],
});
console.log(resp.choices[0].message.content);

Try model "deepseek-v4.1-flash" first.

Model AModel BInput tokensOutput tokens

	Claude Sonnet 5	GPT-5.6 Sol
Input / 1M	$2	$5
Output / 1M	$10	$30
This request	$0.0120	$0.0340
Blended / 1M (3:1)	$4.00	$11.25

Claude Sonnet 5 is 2.8× cheaper for this request.

Questions

What is the cheap chinese ai model api?

Among DeepSeek, Kimi, GLM and Qwen from one key, DeepSeek V4.1 Flash has the lowest list price on Somnus ($0.15 / $0.6), about $0.075 / $0.3 effective.

Is it really that cheap?

Yes: usage is charged at list price, and each $1 you top up becomes $2–$2.50 of credit.

Start free

$10 free credit after card verification.

Get $10 free credit

Cheap DeepSeek API — 2x credit on every top-up AI API with free credit | 10 models Cheap AI API for coding | 19 models Cheap LLM API | 23 models Cheap OpenAI-compatible API | 23 models Cheap AI API: model prices & workload costs

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