Management API

Everything you can do in the dashboard, you can do via API. Create a management key and use it to subscribe to plans, create API keys, top up credits, and manage your account — all programmatically. Perfect for CI/CD pipelines, SaaS platforms, and AI agents.

1. Create a management key

From the dashboard, switch to the Management Keys tab and create one. You’ll get a key starting with mk_. Save it — you won’t see it again.

All Management API requests use this key as a Bearer token:

curl https://api.cheapestinference.com/api/billing/status \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer mk_your_management_key"

2. Subscribe to a plan

Direct (saved card)

If you already have a card on file, subscribe instantly — no browser redirect needed:

curl -X POST https://api.cheapestinference.com/api/billing/subscribe \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer mk_your_management_key" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"planSlug": "pro", "createKey": true, "keyName": "prod-api"}'

{
  "success": true,
  "data": {
    "subscriptionId": "sub_uuid",
    "planSlug": "pro",
    "status": "active",
    "currentPeriodEnd": "2026-04-24T00:00:00.000Z",
    "key": {
      "id": "key_uuid",
      "name": "prod-api",
      "apiKey": "sk_live_abc123..."
    }
  }
}

Set createKey: false (or omit it) to create a subscription without a key — you can create keys later with POST /api/keys/subscription.

Via Stripe Checkout (first time)

If you haven’t saved a card yet, use checkout to add one:

curl -X POST https://api.cheapestinference.com/api/billing/checkout \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer mk_your_management_key" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"planSlug": "pro"}'

Returns a sessionUrl — open it in a browser to complete payment. After that, your card is saved and you can use /subscribe for future subscriptions.

Available plans

Plan	Price	RPM	Budget per 5h
standard	$20/mo	60	$0.14
pro	$60/mo	200	$0.42

You can hold multiple subscriptions — each one is an independent budget pool with its own keys.

3. Check subscription status

curl https://api.cheapestinference.com/api/billing/status \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer mk_your_management_key"

{
  "success": true,
  "data": {
    "subscriptions": [
      {
        "id": "sub_uuid",
        "planSlug": "pro",
        "status": "active",
        "currentPeriodEnd": "2026-03-05T10:00:00.000Z",
        "cancelAtPeriodEnd": false,
        "keyCount": 2,
        "keys": [
          { "id": "key_uuid", "name": "prod-api", "isActive": true, "createdAt": "2026-02-03T10:00:00.000Z" },
          { "id": "key_uuid", "name": "staging", "isActive": true, "createdAt": "2026-02-03T10:00:00.000Z" }
        ]
      }
    ],
    "plan": "pro",
    "status": "active",
    "creditBalance": 25.00,
    "stripeCustomerId": "cus_xxx",
    "subscriptionExpiresAt": null,
    "legacySubscriptionKeys": []
  }
}

4. Create API keys from a subscription

Each subscription supports unlimited keys. Create keys and assign them to a subscription:

curl -X POST https://api.cheapestinference.com/api/keys/subscription \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer mk_your_management_key" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"name": "prod-api", "subscriptionId": "sub_uuid"}'

{
  "success": true,
  "data": {
    "id": "key_uuid",
    "name": "prod-api",
    "apiKey": "sk_live_abc123..."
  }
}

Save the apiKey — it’s shown only once. Use it to make inference requests:

curl https://api.cheapestinference.com/v1/chat/completions \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer sk_live_abc123..." \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"model": "deepseek/deepseek-chat-v3-0324", "messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "Hello"}]}'

5. Top up credits

Via Stripe (card)

curl -X POST https://api.cheapestinference.com/api/billing/topup \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer mk_your_management_key" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"amount": 50, "method": "stripe"}'

Returns a sessionUrl to complete the payment. Minimum $10.

Via USDC on Base

# 1. Get payment address
curl -X POST https://api.cheapestinference.com/api/billing/topup \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer mk_your_management_key" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"amount": 50, "method": "usdc"}'

{
  "success": true,
  "data": {
    "address": "0x...",
    "chain": "base",
    "amount": "50"
  }
}

# 2. Send USDC on Base, then verify
curl -X POST https://api.cheapestinference.com/api/billing/verify-topup \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer mk_your_management_key" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"txHash": "0xabc123...", "amount": 50}'

6. Create credit keys

Credit keys deduct from your prepaid balance. Optionally set a per-key budget and rate limits:

curl -X POST https://api.cheapestinference.com/api/keys/credit \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer mk_your_management_key" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"name": "client-acme", "maxBudget": 25, "rpm": 100, "tpm": 50000}'

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
name	string	Yes	Key name
maxBudget	number	No	Per-key budget in USD (omit for shared pool)
rpm	number	No	Requests per minute limit
tpm	number	No	Tokens per minute limit

7. Cancel a subscription

curl -X POST https://api.cheapestinference.com/api/billing/cancel \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer mk_your_management_key" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"subscriptionId": "sub_uuid"}'

The subscription stays active until the end of the billing period, then keys are revoked automatically.

8. List and delete keys

# List all consumption keys
curl https://api.cheapestinference.com/api/keys \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer mk_your_management_key"

# Delete a key
curl -X DELETE https://api.cheapestinference.com/api/keys/KEY_ID \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer mk_your_management_key"

Full flow example

MK="mk_your_management_key"
API="https://api.cheapestinference.com/api"

# 1. Subscribe to Pro
SESSION=$(curl -s -X POST $API/billing/checkout \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $MK" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"planSlug": "pro"}' | jq -r '.data.sessionUrl')
echo "Pay at: $SESSION"

# 2. After payment, check status
STATUS=$(curl -s $API/billing/status -H "Authorization: Bearer $MK")
SUB_ID=$(echo $STATUS | jq -r '.data.subscriptions[0].id')

# 3. Create a key
KEY=$(curl -s -X POST $API/keys/subscription \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $MK" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d "{\"name\": \"my-app\", \"subscriptionId\": \"$SUB_ID\"}" | jq -r '.data.apiKey')

# 4. Use it
curl https://api.cheapestinference.com/v1/chat/completions \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"model": "deepseek/deepseek-chat-v3-0324", "messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "Hello!"}]}'