How I Cut My AI API Costs by 80% Without Changing My Code

#webdev #ai #showdev #opensource

When I first started using OpenAI API, I was paying around $X per month for my side projects. It wasn't terrible, but it was enough to make me look for alternatives.

I discovered Chinese LLM providers like Zhipu GLM-4 — similar quality, but at a fraction of the cost. The problem? Each provider has its own API format.

So I built a unified API gateway using One API. It translates OpenAI-style requests into calls to Zhipu GLM-4. The result: ~80% lower cost per token, with comparable performance.

The best part: I didn't have to change any code. Just swapped the API endpoint and kept the same format.

Check out my full tutorial here: [Link to your first Dev.to article]

Let me know if you've tried alternative LLM providers! Open to questions.