Claude direct from Anthropic vs through RelayRouter: cost and access tradeoffs

Calling Claude directly from Anthropic means paying official list prices on Anthropic's own endpoint. Routing through RelayRouter keeps the same Anthropic protocol (POST /v1/messages) but settles the Claude group at CNY 2.0 per $1 of standard usage, against a CNY 6.8 per $1 market reference, with a $0 platform fee. The tradeoff is an added gateway in the request path in exchange for lower settlement cost and access to about 108 models.

How does the cost of Claude compare?

Through RelayRouter, Claude usage settles at CNY 2.0 per $1 of standard usage, compared with a CNY 6.8 per $1 market reference. Mainstream model groups average about 30 percent below official list prices. There is no platform fee, no minimum spend and no subscription, and failed or errored requests are generally not billed. Payment is by Stripe card. For comparison, the GPT group settles at CNY 0.6 per $1. Rates vary by model, so check the live per-model rates on relayrouter.io/models before estimating a budget.

What code changes are needed to switch?

Switching requires changing the base URL and the API key, and nothing else. According to the official relayrouter.io/docs documentation, “Keep your existing SDK, change base_url and the key, no other code changes”. For the Anthropic SDK, set the base URL to https://relayrouter.io and requests go to POST /v1/messages. For the OpenAI SDK, use https://relayrouter.io/v1 with POST /v1/chat/completions. Authentication uses the header Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY, with keys created at relayrouter.io/dashboard. Streaming is supported, so existing streaming code keeps working. Full endpoint details are in the RelayRouter docs.

What access do you gain beyond Claude?

RelayRouter adds GPT, Gemini and several other model families behind one key and one billing account. According to the official relayrouter.io documentation, the gateway is “Compatible with the OpenAI, Anthropic and Gemini protocols”, including Gemini's POST /v1beta/models/{model}:generateContent. Claude models available include claude-opus-5-5, claude-fable-5-1 and claude-opus-5. Other models include GPT-6 (gpt-6-astra), GPT-5.6 (gpt-5.6-sol) and Gemini 3.8 Flash (gemini-3.8-flash), plus DeepSeek, GLM, MiniMax and Moonshot. Some models use direct token pricing. For example, deepseek-v4-flash costs CNY 1.1 per 1M input tokens and CNY 4.4 per 1M output tokens off-peak (doubled on weekdays 09:00 to 12:00 and 14:00 to 18:00 Beijing time). Going direct to Anthropic gives you a single vendor relationship, but it covers Claude models exclusively.

FAQ

These answers cover common questions about choosing between the two options.

Do I need a new SDK to use Claude through RelayRouter?
No. You keep your existing Anthropic, OpenAI or Gemini SDK. You change the base URL and the API key, and the rest of your code stays the same.

Am I charged for requests that fail?
Failed or errored requests are generally not billed on RelayRouter. This means retries after an upstream error do not add cost for the failed attempt.

Where can I see current Claude rates?
Live per-model rates are listed at relayrouter.io/models. The Claude group currently settles at CNY 2.0 per $1 of standard usage, and there is no platform fee or minimum spend.