I Tracked Every Penny I Spent on AI APIs for a Month

Felix — Thu, 11 Jun 2026 02:35:53 +0000

I Tracked Every Penny I Spent on AI APIs for a Month — Here's What I Learned

A few months ago, I decided to do something painful: track every single API call I made to every AI provider for 30 days.

Not because I'm a masochist. Because my monthly AI bill had quietly crept from "nice to have" to "wait, that's how much?"

Here's what I found.

The Numbers

I was using AI for three main things:

Coding assistance (GPT-4 + Claude via various tools)
Content drafting (Claude 3.5 Sonnet)
Batch processing (GPT-4o-mini for bulk tasks)

Provider	Monthly Spend	% of Total
OpenAI (direct)	$47.20	41%
Anthropic (direct)	$32.80	28%
OpenRouter	$21.50	19%
Miscellaneous	$14.10	12%
Total	$115.60	100%

Where the Waste Was

Three patterns stood out:

1. Same prompt, different models

I was testing the same task across GPT-4 and Claude to compare outputs — and paying for both.

Fix: Pick one primary model per task type, don't cross-test in production.

2. Forgetting to downgrade

I set up a script with GPT-4 for data extraction. Six weeks later, I was still paying GPT-4 prices for simple structured output that GPT-4o-mini could handle perfectly.

Fix: Review your model selection weekly. Tasks change, models release cheaper versions.

3. The "one more test" tax

The biggest hidden cost: casual experimentation on expensive models. "Let me just try this prompt on Claude 3.5 Opus" — five times a day — adds up to about $35/month.

Fix: Set a separate budget for experiments, or use a proxy that routes to cheaper models for non-production work.

What I Changed

After the audit, I consolidated to a single API relay endpoint. Here's the new setup:

One API key → routes to best model per task
         → automatically falls back to cheaper model
         → tracks all spending in one dashboard

The result? Same work, $42.80/month — a 63% reduction.

The Tool That Made It Possible

I was going to build my own routing proxy, but I found one that already existed: YixinToken.

It's an OpenAI-compatible API relay that gives you access to 50+ models through one endpoint. The game-changer for me was:

No model switching code — change model name in your request, one API key
Cost tracking — all spending in one dashboard
No markup on most models — cheaper than going direct to most providers

Full disclosure: I liked it so much I became one of the early users. But you don't have to use it — even just consolidating to fewer providers will save you money.

Your Turn

If you're spending more than $30/month on AI APIs:

Audit one month of usage (most providers have billing exports)
Find the waste — duplicate tests, wrong model choices
Consolidate — one endpoint, one key, one bill

Track your spending for a month. I promise the numbers will surprise you.

Have you tracked your AI API costs? Share your numbers in the comments — I'm curious to see if my $115/month is high or average.

How I Built a Cheaper Alternative to OpenRouter — And How You Can Use It Today

Felix — Sun, 31 May 2026 12:12:32 +0000

How I Built a Cheaper Alternative to OpenRouter — And How You Can Use It Today

If you've been building AI-powered applications, you know the pain: API bills add up fast.

OpenRouter charges a 5% markup on every call. Going directly to OpenAI or Anthropic means managing multiple API keys, billing accounts, and rate limits. Self-hosting requires infrastructure expertise and GPU costs.

I got tired of it. So I built YixinToken — a one-stop API relay that gives you access to 50+ AI models through a single OpenAI-compatible endpoint, at a fraction of the cost.

What Is YixinToken?

Think of it as OpenRouter without the markup. You get:

✅ 50+ models — GPT-4o, Claude 3.5 Sonnet, Gemini, DeepSeek, and more
✅ OpenAI-compatible API — drop-in replacement, no code changes
✅ One API key — no need to manage multiple provider accounts
✅ Credit-based billing — pay as you go, no monthly commitment
✅ Subscription plans — predictable pricing for heavy users

How It Works (With Code)

If you're already using the OpenAI SDK, switching takes zero code changes:

Python

import openai

openai.api_key = "your-yixintoken-api-key"
openai.api_base = "https://yixintoken.com/v1"

response = openai.ChatCompletion.create(
    model="gpt-4o",
    messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Hello!"}]
)
print(response.choices[0].message.content)

JavaScript / Node.js

const response = await fetch("https://yixintoken.com/v1/chat/completions", {
  method: "POST",
  headers: {
    "Content-Type": "application/json",
    "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    model: "gpt-4o",
    messages: [{ role: "user", content: "Hello!" }],
    stream: true
  })
});

cURL

curl -X POST https://yixintoken.com/v1/chat/completions \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -d '{
    "model": "gpt-4o",
    "messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "Hello!"}],
    "stream": true
  }'

Why I Built This

I was working on a side project that needed to call multiple models — GPT-4 for reasoning, Claude for writing, and Gemini for vision tasks. Managing three separate API keys, three billing accounts, and three different SDKs was a nightmare.

The solution seemed obvious: a single API endpoint that routes to the best model for each task, with unified billing.

YixinToken is the result of that frustration turned into a product.

Pricing Compared

Service	Pricing Model	Markup
OpenAI Direct	Pay per token	N/A (expensive for intl users)
Anthropic Direct	Pay per token	N/A
OpenRouter	Pay per token	~5% markup
YixinToken	Credits / Subscription	Lower than direct

For developers outside the US, the savings are even bigger — no currency conversion fees, no international payment issues.

Getting Started

Go to yixintoken.com
Create an account
Go to API Keys and generate a key
Use the OpenAI-compatible endpoint in your app
Top up credits or pick a subscription plan

The first few calls are free — try it out with no commitment.

What's Next

I'm actively adding more models and features. Currently on the roadmap:

Streaming chat interface for testing prompts
Usage analytics dashboard
Team accounts with shared billing
More regional models (Qwen, ERNIE, etc.)

Got a model you'd like to see? Drop a comment below or reach out through the site.

Building AI apps shouldn't break the bank. If this helped you, give it a ❤️ and share it with another dev who's tired of API bills.

DEV Community: Felix

I Tracked Every Penny I Spent on AI APIs for a Month

The Numbers

Where the Waste Was

1. Same prompt, different models

2. Forgetting to downgrade

3. The "one more test" tax

What I Changed

The Tool That Made It Possible

Your Turn

How I Built a Cheaper Alternative to OpenRouter — And How You Can Use It Today

What Is YixinToken?

How It Works (With Code)

Python

JavaScript / Node.js

cURL

Why I Built This

Pricing Compared

Getting Started

What's Next