What is Express API?
Express API is an AI model-aggregator API that gives developers access to Chinese AI models — including DeepSeek, Kimi, Qwen, Doubao, GLM, ERNIE, MiniMax, and Hunyuan — through a single OpenAI-compatible endpoint. Because it is 100% OpenAI-compatible, you switch to it by changing only the base_url in an existing OpenAI SDK setup, with no other code rewrites. Billing is pay-as-you-go with transparent per-token pricing that lists input and output rates separately per model, so there is no subscription. Published examples include DeepSeek deepseek-v4-pro at $0.60 per 1M input tokens and $1.80 per 1M output tokens, deepseek-v4-flash at $0.20/$0.85 per 1M, and Kimi kimi-k3 (a multimodal vision model) at $3.00/$12.00 per 1M. Payments are handled in USD via Stripe, and new signups receive a small free credit to test the endpoint. The catalog spans reasoning, fast code, long-context (128K), and vision models across multiple Chinese vendors, letting teams route to the cheapest or most capable model for each task without managing separate provider accounts. It targets developers building agents, chat apps, and code tools who want low-latency access to Chinese models priced in USD.
What is Express API used for?
Best for developers who want to call DeepSeek, Kimi, Qwen, and other Chinese models through one OpenAI-compatible API billed per token in USD.
How much does Express API cost?
Pay-as-you-go
No subscription; per-token billing with separate input/output rates per model, e.g. DeepSeek deepseek-v4-pro $0.60/1M input and $1.80/1M output; $0.10 free credit on signup; USD via Stripe
Pros and cons
Pros
- 100% OpenAI-compatible: migrate by changing only the base_url, no other code changes
- Single endpoint reaches multiple Chinese vendors' models — DeepSeek, Kimi, Qwen, Doubao, GLM and more
- Transparent per-token pricing with separate input/output rates (e.g. DeepSeek deepseek-v4-pro at $0.60/$1.80 per 1M tokens)
- USD billing via Stripe with a free credit on signup and no subscription commitment
Cons
- Scope is limited to Chinese-vendor models — no OpenAI, Anthropic, or Google models
- Pay-as-you-go per-token costs can be hard to forecast for high-throughput workloads
- As a routing layer, uptime and latency depend on upstream Chinese providers
- Model catalog and exact model names shift as vendors update versions
Questions about Express API
What is Express API?
Express API is a model-aggregator API that provides access to Chinese AI models such as DeepSeek, Kimi, Qwen, Doubao, and GLM through a single OpenAI-compatible endpoint, billed per token in USD via Stripe.
Is Express API OpenAI-compatible?
Yes. Express API is 100% OpenAI-compatible, so you can switch to it from an existing OpenAI SDK integration by changing only the base_url, with no other code changes required.
How much does Express API cost?
Express API uses pay-as-you-go per-token pricing with separate input and output rates per model. For example, DeepSeek deepseek-v4-pro is $0.60 per 1M input tokens and $1.80 per 1M output tokens. New signups get a $0.10 free credit and pay in USD via Stripe.
Which models does Express API support?
Express API aggregates Chinese AI models across several vendors, including DeepSeek, Kimi/Moonshot, Qwen/Alibaba, Doubao, GLM, ERNIE, MiniMax, and Hunyuan, covering reasoning, fast code, long-context, and vision models.
What are the best alternatives to Express API?
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