DirtCheapAI
Get started/Introduction

Introduction

What DirtCheapAI is

DirtCheapAI is a public AI API service with an OpenAI-compatible and Anthropic-compatible interface. You keep the SDK and tool flow you already use. In most cases, you only change the base URL and API key.

What you can do with it

  • Call POST /api/v1/chat/completions from OpenAI-style clients.
  • Call POST /api/v1/messages from Anthropic-style clients.
  • Count tokens with POST /api/v1/messages/count_tokens before sending a large prompt.
  • Read the current model catalog with GET /api/v1/models.
  • Check account balance and package state with GET /api/v1/balance.

Supported model names for current docs

  • claude-haiku-4.5
  • claude-opus-4.5
  • claude-opus-4.6
  • claude-sonnet-4.5
  • claude-sonnet-4.6
  • gemini-3-flash-preview
  • gemini-3-pro-preview
  • gemini-3.1-pro
  • gpt-5.3-codex
  • gpt-5.4
  • grok-code-fast-1

When to use which endpoint

NeedEndpoint
OpenAI SDK, Cursor, Cline, Continue, Windsurf, Zed, Kilo Code, Aider, OpenClaw`/api/v1/chat/completions`
Claude-native request format`/api/v1/messages`
Claude token estimation`/api/v1/messages/count_tokens`
Model catalog and balance checks`/api/v1/models`
Key balance and remaining credits`/api/v1/balance`