I Spent $1 to Test a Multi-Model API Proxy — Here's What I Found

LEI GUO — Sun, 24 May 2026 10:45:56 +0000

If you've been following the AI API space lately, you've probably noticed the same thing I did: every provider has their own SDK, their own auth system, their own pricing. It's a mess.

Last week I stumbled on a small API proxy at ecomai.online that claims to aggregate multiple LLM backends under a single OpenAI-compatible endpoint. I threw $1 at it to see if it's legit.

What you get:

One API key that works across multiple models. Same curl command, same Python SDK, same headers — just point your base_url to their endpoint and pick a model name. No monthly subscription, no minimum commit. Just pay per token.

The setup:

curl https://ecomai.online/v1/chat/completions \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer sk-your-key-here" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "model": "deepseek-chat",
    "messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "Hello!"}]
  }'

That's it. If your code already uses the OpenAI Python SDK, just change the base_url:

from openai import OpenAI

client = OpenAI(
    api_key="sk-your-key",
    base_url="https://ecomai.online/v1/"
)

response = client.chat.completions.create(
    model="deepseek-chat",
    messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Hello!"}]
)

Why this matters:

I was juggling 3 different API providers — each with its own dashboard, billing, and rate limits. This proxy replaces all of them with one key and one endpoint. Less headache, less code to maintain.

The catch:

It's a small operation, not a giant like OpenAI. Uptime has been solid in my 2 weeks of testing, but your mileage may vary. The $1 test plan gives you 1M tokens to play with — enough to evaluate before committing.

Who is this for:

Indie devs building AI features but tired of managing multiple API accounts
Side project hackers who want to keep costs low
Anyone who wants to try different models without signing up for 5 different services

Bottom line: For $1 it's a no-brainer to test. If it works for your use case, you just saved yourself a ton of integration work. If not, you're out a buck.

I'm not affiliated with them — just a dev who likes finding useful tools that reduce friction. Try it and see what you think.

DEV Community: LEI GUO

I Spent $1 to Test a Multi-Model API Proxy — Here's What I Found