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brian austin
brian austin

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I built a $2/month Claude API proxy — here's the curl command

#api #claude #aitools #webdev

I built a $2/month Claude API proxy — here's the curl command

Anthropix Claude API costs money per token. Claude Pro is $20/month. But there's a simpler option for developers who just want API access without per-token billing anxiety.

I built SimplyLouie — a Claude API proxy that costs $2/month flat, no per-token charges.

Here's how to use it.

The curl command 

curl https://simplylouie.com/api/chat \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -d '{
    "model": "claude-3-5-sonnet-20241022",
    "messages": [
      {"role": "user", "content": "Hello! Write me a Python function to parse JSON."}
    ]
  }'
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Response comes back in OpenAI-compatible format:

{
  "id": "msg_01XFDUDYJgAACzvnptvVoYEL",
  "type": "message",
  "role": "assistant",
  "content": [
    {
      "type": "text",
      "text": "Here's a Python function to parse JSON:\n\n```

python\nimport json\n\ndef parse_json(json_string):\n    try:\n        return json.loads(json_string)\n    except json.JSONDecodeError as e:\n        print(f'Error parsing JSON: {e}')\n        return None\n

```"
    }
  ]
}
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Drop-in replacement for OpenAI SDK

If you're using the OpenAI Python SDK, just change base_url:

from openai import OpenAI

client = OpenAI(
    api_key="YOUR_SIMPLYLOUIE_API_KEY",
    base_url="https://simplylouie.com/api"
)

response = client.chat.completions.create(
    model="claude-3-5-sonnet-20241022",
    messages=[
        {"role": "user", "content": "Write a Python function to parse JSON"}
    ]
)

print(response.choices[0].message.content)
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Works with Claude Code too

If you're using Claude Code (Anthropic's CLI tool), you can point it at the proxy:

export ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL=https://simplylouie.com/api
export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=YOUR_SIMPLYLOUIE_API_KEY

# Now run Claude Code normally
claude
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Or add it to your .claude/settings.json:

{
  "env": {
    "ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL": "https://simplylouie.com/api",
    "ANTHROPIC_API_KEY": "YOUR_SIMPLYLOUIE_API_KEY"
  }
}
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Works with any OpenAI-compatible client

LangChain:

from langchain_openai import ChatOpenAI

llm = ChatOpenAI(
    model="claude-3-5-sonnet-20241022",
    openai_api_key="YOUR_SIMPLYLOUIE_API_KEY",
    openai_api_base="https://simplylouie.com/api"
)

result = llm.invoke("Write a Python function to parse JSON")
print(result.content)
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LiteLLM:

import litellm

response = litellm.completion(
    model="openai/claude-3-5-sonnet-20241022",
    api_base="https://simplylouie.com/api",
    api_key="YOUR_SIMPLYLOUIE_API_KEY",
    messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Hello!"}]
)
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Why flat pricing?

Per-token billing creates anxiety. You write a loop, forget to add a break condition, and wake up to a $50 bill.

With $2/month flat, you don't think about it. Run as many requests as you need. Build scripts that call the API in a loop. No surprises.

The math:

  • Anthropic API: ~$3 per million tokens (Sonnet)
  • Claude Pro: $20/month (but no API access)
  • SimplyLouie: $2/month flat

For developers doing light-to-medium API usage (scripts, side projects, automation), the flat rate wins.

Get your API key

Sign up at simplylouie.com/developers

7-day free trial. $2/month after. Cancel anytime.

The curl command above works immediately after signup.

SimplyLouie is an independent Claude API proxy. Not affiliated with Anthropic.

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