About

Who We Are

CheapAI is a developer community built by developers, for developers. We're a small team of indie hackers, startup founders, and side-project builders who got tired of paying premium prices just to use AI APIs.

We're not a VC-backed startup. We don't have fancy offices or a sales team. We're just developers who believe AI should be accessible to everyone, not just those with big budgets.

Our Story

The Problem We Faced

Like many developers, we were building AI-powered projects on the side. Every month, we'd stare at our API bills in disbelief:

And the worst part? We weren't even heavy users. We were just indie developers building side projects.

Meanwhile, we noticed something interesting: enterprise companies had API credits they weren't using. Credits that would expire. Credits that would reset monthly and go to waste.

The Solution We Built

We created CheapAI to solve both problems:

For Developers

Affordable access to premium AI models.

For Unused Credits

A way to put them to good use.

How It Works

Volume Aggregation Model

CheapAI pools purchasing demand across hundreds of developers and teams. By aggregating API usage at scale, we access lower-cost tiers and negotiate better purchasing arrangements than individual accounts can achieve, then pass those savings directly to customers.

You receive a real API key and a proxy base URL. Any tool or SDK that accepts a custom OpenAI base URL connects immediately — no code changes needed beyond a one-line configuration swap.

What You Actually Get

• A real API key — delivered by email within 24 hours of payment confirmation.
• A proxy base URL — drop into any OpenAI-compatible tool or SDK.
• OpenAI-compatible endpoints — same request format, works with Cursor, Claude Code, LangChain, n8n, Open WebUI, and more.
• Real production models — Claude Claude Opus 4.6, GPT-5.4, Gemini 3 Pro, DeepSeek V3.2. No custom or filtered versions.

Pricing Transparency

We show official provider list prices alongside our own prices on every model comparison page so you can verify the difference yourself:

• Cheap Claude API → Claude Claude Opus 4.6 + Claude Sonnet 4.6 pricing comparison with source citations
• Cheap GPT API → GPT-5.4 + Codex pricing comparison
• Cheap Gemini API → Gemini 3 Pro + Flash pricing comparison

Our Cost-Saving Methods

Volume Aggregation

We aggregate demand across the community. This helps us:

• Enterprise-level pricing negotiations.
• Volume discounts individuals can't access.
• Better rates that we pass directly to you.

Smart Request Optimization

We use short-lived optimization layers that:

• Reduces redundant API calls significantly.
• Keep temporary performance data for minutes, not months.
• Focus on efficiency without changing the public product flow.
• Requires zero configuration from you.

Result: Lower costs for us, lower prices for you.

Efficient Infrastructure

We run lean by design, keeping overhead strictly minimized to ensure costs stay down.

Why We're a Community, Not a Company

Our Philosophy

We operate more like a credit union for AI APIs than a traditional company.

What This Means for You

Lower Prices

No investors to pay back means we don't need high margins.

Transparent Operations

We tell you exactly how we operate.

Community Focus

Your success = our success.

Sustainable Model

We're here for the long run, not a quick exit.

Direct Support

Real developers helping real developers.

Our Mission & Values

What We Believe

AI should be accessible to everyone, regardless of:

• Budget size.
• Company stage.
• Geographic location.
• Technical resources.

Who We Don't Target

We're not for corporate giants who demand rigid SLAs and enterprise bloat. And that's okay. We're built for the rest of us.

Our Core Values

1. Community First

We're developers helping developers. Every decision we make asks: "Does this help the developer community?"

2. Accessibility

AI shouldn't be a luxury. We're committed to making it affordable.

3. Transparency

We're honest about where our credits come from and how our infrastructure works.

4. Sustainability

We're not here to burn out or go broke. We operate on reliable metrics and solid community backing.

5. Impact

We measure success by how many developers get to build their dreams for a fraction of the cost.

Privacy & Data

Our Privacy-First Approach

We try to keep retained data limited to what is needed for delivery, security, accounting, and support. Here's why that matters:

• Privacy builds trust: We do not want unnecessary long-term retention.
• Operational clarity: We only keep the order, payment, and support data required to run the service.
• Risk reduction: Less retained data means less to protect and less to leak.
• Simpler operations: Lean systems are easier to audit and maintain.

The Team

Who We Are

We're a small team of developers working remotely across different locations.

We're NOT:

• A VC-funded startup.
• A large enterprise vendor.
• A faceless company.

We ARE:

• Developers who faced the same problems you do.
• Builders who created what we wished existed.
• Community members who want to help.
• Real people you can talk to.

How We Work

Fast, community-driven. Reached via Telegram. Iterative, based on feedback. Transparent, no surprises.

The Bottom Line

We're developers helping developers access AI affordably.

Setup Guides & Pricing Comparisons

Step-by-step documentation for the most common CheapAI setups:

• OpenAI-Compatible API guide — drop-in replacement for any OpenAI SDK
• Cursor AI setup guide — use Claude & GPT inside Cursor
• Claude Code setup guide — full CLI walkthrough
• All models directory — Claude, GPT-5.3 Codex, Gemini, DeepSeek in one place

Page maintained by the CheapAI team. Last updated: March 2026.