RouterAI alternative — Claude, GPT and Gemini for less, pay in USDT
RuAPI is a RouterAI alternative priced in US dollars: text models of Claude, GPT and Gemini cost 7–8% less here, and Claude Fable 5.1 about 20% less (at the Bank of Russia rate of 01.11.2026). Top up in USDT / USDC from $5 — no Russian or foreign-issued card needed. A native Anthropic API for Claude Code and OpenCode, no VPN.
$ curl https://www.ruapi.ai/v1/chat/completions \
-H "Authorization: Bearer sk-..." \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"model": "claude-sonnet-5-5",
"messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "Hello"}]
}'Only BASE_URL and KEY — zero business code changes.
Why switch from RouterAI to RuAPI
Claude, GPT and Gemini text models — 7–8% cheaper at the Bank of Russia rate.
Claude Sonnet 5.5 costs $2.40 / $12.00 per 1M input / output tokens on RuAPI vs 209 ₽ / 1,047 ₽ (≈ $2.59 / $13.00) on RouterAI. GPT-5.4: $3.00 / $18.00 vs 261 ₽ / 1,570 ₽ (≈ $3.24 / $19.49). For Claude Fable 5.1 the gap is about 20%. RouterAI prices are from its model pages on routerai.ru on 01.11.2026, at the Bank of Russia rate of 80.5573 ₽/$.
No Russian card required.
RouterAI takes payment in rubles: a Russian bank card, SBP or an invoice for companies and sole traders (routerai.ru, 01.11.2026). On RuAPI you top up in USDT / USDC from $5 or with a Visa / Mastercard issued by a foreign bank — handy if you live outside Russia or already hold crypto. You can also buy USDT with rubles via SBP: docs.ruapi.ai/en/buy-usdt
The price is independent of the channel.
On RouterAI a request is billed at the rate of the provider that actually processed it, and for some models provider rates differ: GPT-5.4 input costs 261 ₽ or 287 ₽ per 1M tokens; by default the cheapest of the stable providers is chosen, but if it fails the request may go to a pricier one (routerai.ru, 01.11.2026). On RuAPI the price of a model is independent of the channel: the main models have backup channels, and if one is down the request switches to another automatically — at the same per-token rates.
How to move from RouterAI to RuAPI: 3 steps
Your code and tools stay the same — only the API address, the key and the model names change.
Sign up for RuAPI
Sign up at www.ruapi.ai with email, Google or Yandex — no phone number. New accounts usually get $0.05 right away to test the key: claude-haiku-5-5, deepseek-flash and gpt-6-luna work on it.
The other models unlock after your first top-up — in USDT / USDC from $5 or with a card issued by a foreign bank.
Create an API key
Console → API Keys → "Create API key". It is convenient to give each project or agent its own key with a spending limit, and the console log shows every request: model, tokens and charge.
Replace the address and model names
- OpenAI-compatible format: https://routerai.ru/api/v1 → https://www.ruapi.ai/v1.
- Native Anthropic API (Claude Code, Anthropic SDK): https://routerai.ru/api → https://www.ruapi.ai.
- Models go without the provider prefix, and Claude versions use a hyphen: anthropic/claude-opus-5.5 → claude-opus-5-5, google/gemini-3.1-pro-preview → gemini-3.1-pro-preview.
- For Claude Code, Cline, Kilo Code, OpenCode and Cherry Studio, the console has a "Connect Claude Code, Cline & more" button that gives you ready-made settings with your key.
Quickstart and request examples: docs.ruapi.ai/en/quickstart
What to change when switching
base_url
OpenAI-compatible: https://www.ruapi.ai/v1
Native Anthropic: https://www.ruapi.ai (no /v1)
Model names
claude-sonnet-5-5 · claude-opus-5-5
gpt-5.4 · gpt-5.6-terra
gemini-3.1-pro-preview · kimi-k3.1-pro
no anthropic/, openai/, google/ prefix
Payment
USDT — TRC20 / BEP20 / TON / Polygon
USDC — TRC20 / BEP20 / Polygon
Visa / Mastercard issued by foreign banks
$5 minimum
RuAPI prices for Claude, GPT, Gemini and Kimi
In US dollars per 1M tokens, from the pricing page. On routerai.ru the same models are priced in rubles per 1M tokens, so they are easy to compare at the Bank of Russia rate.
| model | input $/M | output $/M |
|---|---|---|
| claude-sonnet-5-5 | $2.40 cache read $0.12 | $12.00 |
| claude-opus-5-5 | $4.80 cache read $0.24 | $24.00 |
| claude-haiku-5-5 | $0.12 cache read $0.0120 >100K: $0.60 | $0.60 >100K: $3.00 |
| claude-fable-5-1 | $12.00 cache read $0.30 | $60.00 |
| gpt-5.4 | $3.00 cache read $0.30 >272K: $6.00 | $18.00 >272K: $27.00 |
| gpt-5.6-terra | $2.40 cache read $0.24 >272K: $4.80 | $14.40 >272K: $21.60 |
| gemini-3.1-pro-preview | $2.40 cache read $0.24 >200K: $4.80 | $14.40 >200K: $21.60 |
| kimi-k3.1-pro | $2.40 cache read $0.24 | $12.00 |
Columns: input — new input tokens, "cache read" — input tokens read from the prompt cache, output — the model response. The cache discount applies to every user; for Claude, caching works in both the Anthropic and the OpenAI format (by cache_control marks; if the client sets none, RuAPI adds them when the conversation continues within 5 minutes).
The grey ">100K" row is the vendor rate for long prompts: if the prompt exceeds the threshold, the whole request is billed at it.
RuAPI vs RouterAI: the difference
| RuAPI | RouterAI | |
|---|---|---|
| Claude Sonnet 5.5, per 1M tokens (input / output) | $2.40 / $12.00 | 209 ₽ / 1,047 ₽ (≈ $2.59 / $13.00) |
| Claude Opus 5.5, per 1M tokens (input / output) | $4.80 / $24.00 | 418 ₽ / 2,094 ₽ (≈ $5.19 / $25.99) |
| Claude Fable 5.1, per 1M tokens (input / output) | $12.00 / $60.00 | 1,204 ₽ / 6,021 ₽ (≈ $14.95 / $74.74) |
| GPT-5.4, per 1M tokens (prompts up to 272K) | $3.00 / $18.00 | 261 ₽ / 1,570 ₽ (≈ $3.24 / $19.49); via the Amazon Bedrock provider — 287 ₽ / 1,727 ₽ |
| Gemini 3.1 Pro, per 1M tokens (prompts up to 200K) | $2.40 / $14.40 | 209 ₽ / 1,256 ₽ (≈ $2.60 / $15.60) |
| How a request is priced | One price per model, whichever channel serves the request | At the rate of the provider that actually processed the request |
| Payment | USDT / USDC from $5 or a Visa / Mastercard issued by a foreign bank | In rubles: Russian bank cards, SBP, invoice for companies and sole traders |
| Currency of prices and balance | US dollars | Rubles; "ruble prices may change with exchange rates" |
| Trial balance | Usually $0.05 right after sign-up | Sign-up is free, there is no free plan (FAQ on routerai.ru) |
| Native Anthropic API (Claude Code) | Yes | Yes |
| From Russia without a VPN | Yes | Yes |
RouterAI prices are from its model pages at routerai.ru/models: anthropic/claude-sonnet-5.5, anthropic/claude-opus-5.5, anthropic/claude-fable-5.1, openai/gpt-5.4, google/gemini-3.1-pro-preview; payment methods and FAQ from the routerai.ru home page (checked 01.11.2026). Converted at the Bank of Russia rate of 80.5573 ₽/$ on 01.11.2026. RuAPI prices are the standard rate. Prices may change.