Grok API in Russia: xAI’s Grok 4.7 with no VPN or foreign card
Grok 4.7 is xAI’s reasoning model with a 500K-token context, function calling and structured outputs (docs.x.ai, 7 Nov 2026). On RuAPI it sits behind the OpenAI-compatible endpoint https://www.ruapi.ai/v1: if your code already uses the OpenAI SDK, just change base_url, the key and model to grok-4.7. The site and API open from Russia directly, you top up in USDT, and the same key also runs Claude, GPT, Gemini and DeepSeek. The price is $2.40 per 1M input tokens and $7.20 per 1M output tokens.
Updated:
from openai import OpenAI
client = OpenAI(
api_key="sk-...",
base_url="https://www.ruapi.ai/v1",
)
resp = client.chat.completions.create(
model="grok-4.7",
messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Hello"}],
)
print(resp.choices[0].message.content)The sample is already set to model "grok-4.7" — pick cURL, Python or Node.js and paste your sk-… key. Grok 4.7 unlocks after your first top-up; the $0.05 trial credit does not cover it.
Why connecting to the Grok API from Russia is hard
xAI’s API runs on prepaid credits by default.
In the xAI console you buy credits first and requests draw them down; once they run out, the API rejects requests by default. Postpaid monthly invoicing is also possible. Credits are bought by card or bank transfer (docs.x.ai/console/billing, 7 Nov 2026). Cards issued by Russian banks don’t work abroad, so paying xAI takes a foreign-issued card. On RuAPI you top up in USDT from 5 USDT, and USDT can be bought for rubles via SBP.
OpenRouter has closed for Russia.
Since May 2026 OpenRouter no longer accepts payments from Russian accounts (a notice to users dated 11 May 2026, as reported on habr.com), and in our 9 Nov 2026 check openrouter.ai answered requests from Russian IPs with a 403 error. www.ruapi.ai opens from Russia with no VPN.
Grok 4.7’s reasoning costs money too.
Grok 4.7 always reasons before answering, and reasoning can’t be switched off (docs.x.ai/docs/guides/reasoning, 7 Nov 2026). On RuAPI reasoning tokens are billed as output, and if input plus cache exceeds 200K tokens the whole request is billed at double rates, the same way xAI does it. To avoid surprises, give the key a budget and check the cost of each call in the Console request log.
How to connect the Grok API via RuAPI: 4 steps
A RuAPI key instead of an xAI key: the https://www.ruapi.ai/v1 endpoint and model grok-4.7 — the rest of your OpenAI SDK code stays the same.
Sign up and top up
Sign up at www.ruapi.ai using email or a Google, Yandex or Telegram login. Top up in USDT from 5 USDT over TRC20, BEP20, TON or Polygon; USDC works too. If you don’t hold USDT yet, buy it for rubles via SBP following docs.ruapi.ai/en/buy-usdt. Foreign-issued cards are accepted as well. No subscription, and the balance doesn’t expire.
The $0.05 trial credit for new accounts only covers claude-haiku-5-5, deepseek-flash and gpt-6-luna. grok-4.7 becomes available after your first top-up.
Create a key — that’s your “Grok API key”
Console → API Keys → “Create API key”. For Grok experiments a separate, capped key is handy: in the Credit limit block, turn off “Unlimited” and enter an amount. An sk-… key works for every RuAPI model.
Set base_url and the grok-4.7 model
- Python (openai package): client = OpenAI(base_url="https://www.ruapi.ai/v1", api_key="sk-…"), then client.chat.completions.create(model="grok-4.7", messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Hi, Grok!"}]). The answer is in choices[0].message.content; the model returns its reasoning separately from the answer text.
- Cline: provider OpenAI Compatible, Base URL https://www.ruapi.ai/v1, Model ID grok-4.7. OpenCode: a custom OpenAI-compatible provider in opencode.json with baseURL https://www.ruapi.ai/v1 and model grok-4.7. Cherry Studio: an OpenAI-type provider with the address https://www.ruapi.ai; add the model with the “+” button by ID grok-4.7. Step by step: docs.ruapi.ai/en/integrations/cline, docs.ruapi.ai/en/integrations/opencode, docs.ruapi.ai/en/integrations/cherry-studio.
- Grok supports function calling (tools) in the same format as OpenAI: docs.ruapi.ai/en/function-calling.
Check the request in the Console log
The Console request log shows the model, the input, cache and output tokens (reasoning included) and the amount charged. If there is no grok-4.7 line or you got an error, check the code list at docs.ruapi.ai/en/errors.
On RuAPI, Grok 4.7 is called through the OpenAI-compatible /v1/chat/completions. You can also pick it in Codex and Claude Code: RuAPI converts the requests to the right format itself (docs.ruapi.ai/en/integrations/codex).
Grok 4.7 on RuAPI at a glance
Model
ID: grok-4.7
500K-token context (docs.x.ai)
always reasons before answering
tools and structured outputs
Price per 1M tokens
requests up to 200K: input $2.40, output $7.20, cache $0.60
over 200K: $4.80 / $14.40 / $1.20 for the whole request
reasoning billed as output
Endpoint and payment
https://www.ruapi.ai/v1/chat/completions
USDT / USDC from 5 USDT
no subscription, balance never expires
Grok API pricing, with models to compare
All prices are USD per 1M tokens and match the pricing page. Next to grok-4.7 are models people often weigh against it: cheaper ones for routine work and stronger ones for hard tasks. All of them work with one key.
| model | input $/M | output $/M |
|---|---|---|
| grok-4.7 | $2.40 cache read $0.60 >200K: $4.80 | $7.20 >200K: $14.40 |
| deepseek-flash | $0.17 cache read $0.0120 | $1.44 |
| gpt-6-luna | $0.12 cache read $0.0120 >272K: $0.24 | $0.60 >272K: $0.90 |
| gemini-3.8-flash | $0.90 cache read $0.0900 | $4.50 |
| claude-sonnet-5-5 | $2.40 cache read $0.12 | $12.00 |
| gpt-5.4 | $3.00 cache read $0.30 >272K: $6.00 | $18.00 >272K: $27.00 |
For reference: a request with 10,000 input tokens and 2,000 output tokens including reasoning costs about $0.038 on grok-4.7. The exact charge for each call is in the Console request log. Grok 4.7 specs per docs.x.ai/docs/models/grok-4.7 as of 7 Nov 2026.
The grey “>200K” line is the vendor’s official tier for long prompts: when a prompt exceeds the threshold, the whole request is billed at that tier.