I built a $2/month Claude API proxy — here's the exact curl command to use it in your project

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

Every developer I know is using Claude. And every developer I know is paying $20/month for it.

I built SimplyLouie to fix that. It's a Claude API proxy that costs $2/month. No rate limits. No per-token billing. No surprise invoices.

Here's exactly how to use it.

The curl command

Once you sign up, you get an API key. Then:

curl -X POST 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": "Explain async/await in JavaScript in 3 sentences"
      }
    ],
    "max_tokens": 256
  }'

That's it. You get back Claude's response for $2/month flat.

Drop-in replacement for the Anthropic SDK

If you're already using the Anthropic Python SDK, changing one line is all it takes:

import anthropic

# Before: paying per token
client = anthropic.Anthropic(api_key="sk-ant-YOUR_KEY")

# After: $2/month flat
client = anthropic.Anthropic(
    api_key="YOUR_SIMPLYLOUIE_KEY",
    base_url="https://simplylouie.com/api"
)

# Everything else stays the same
message = client.messages.create(
    model="claude-3-5-sonnet-20241022",
    max_tokens=1024,
    messages=[
        {"role": "user", "content": "Write a Python function to parse JSON safely"}
    ]
)
print(message.content[0].text)

Change base_url. Done. Your existing code works.

Node.js / TypeScript

import Anthropic from '@anthropic-ai/sdk';

const client = new Anthropic({
  apiKey: process.env.SIMPLYLOUIE_API_KEY,
  baseURL: 'https://simplylouie.com/api',
});

async function askClaude(prompt: string): Promise<string> {
  const message = await client.messages.create({
    model: 'claude-3-5-sonnet-20241022',
    max_tokens: 1024,
    messages: [{ role: 'user', content: prompt }],
  });

  return message.content[0].type === 'text' 
    ? message.content[0].text 
    : '';
}

// Use it
const result = await askClaude('Refactor this function for readability');
console.log(result);

Why does this exist?

Anthropic's direct API is pay-per-token. For most developers building side projects, this means:

$0.003 per 1K input tokens (claude-3-5-sonnet)
$0.015 per 1K output tokens
Unpredictable monthly bills
Budget anxiety every time you test

At $2/month flat, you stop worrying. You build. You test. You iterate.

The math for a side project

Let's say you're building a personal assistant that you use 30 minutes a day:

Approach	Monthly cost
ChatGPT Plus	$20
Anthropic API direct (pay-per-token)	$8-25 depending on usage
SimplyLouie proxy	$2 flat

For developers in India, Nigeria, Philippines, Kenya — where $20/month is 1-3 days of salary — this difference is the difference between having Claude and not having it.

What's the catch?

No catch. I'm running this as a mission-driven project — 50% of every subscription goes to animal rescue. The pricing is $2/month because I want developers who couldn't otherwise afford Claude to have access to it.

It's Claude 3.5 Sonnet. The same model. The same API surface.