January 10, 2025

Use premium AI models for pennies đź’°

If you’re familiar with ChatGPT, you probably know that it offers a limited Free plan and a $20/month Plus plan.

Did you know that you can access the paid features of ChatGPT in a more flexible, affordable way? All you have to do is access it via API!

When you access Large Language Models (LLMs) via API, you actually pay per “token”, which is roughly equivalent to a word. The LLM I use the most, GPT-4o mini, costs only $0.15 per million “input tokens” (what you send to it) and $0.60 per million “output tokens” (what it sends back). That means most of my conversations cost fractions of a cent!

And when I want to use a more powerful model (like GPT-4o or Claude 3.5 Sonnet), I might pay a few cents per conversation.

In summary, accessing LLMs via API means that you can use any model you like, and you only pay for the tokens you use. Win-win!

🔑 How to access LLMs via API

If you like the idea of accessing LLMs in a flexible, affordable way, there are only two things you need to get started:

  1. An API key for the LLM you want to use
  2. An app that can use your API key to interact with the LLM

An “API key” is just a unique identifier that allows you to access a web service. For example, my API key from OpenAI allows me to use their models, and they bill me for the usage.

Once you have an API key, you need an interface for chatting with the LLM. My preferred interface is TypingMind:

All you have to do is give TypingMind your API key, and it will communicate with the LLM on your behalf!

I love TypingMind because it’s so easy to switch between different LLMs while still tracking your conversation history in one place.

It also has tons of power user features: AI agents, plugins, voice mode, document upload, cloud sync, etc.

âś… How to get started

  1. Sign up for an API key from OpenAI, Anthropic, or Google. (OpenAI is the easiest, and here’s a 1-minute video to show you how.)
  2. Add your billing information to OpenAI and buy $5 in credits (the minimum amount). This can last you a long time!
  3. Add your API key to TypingMind and try it out for free. (You will still be paying OpenAI for the API usage.)
  4. Buy a TypingMind license if you plan to use it frequently. Thankfully, it’s a one-time cost for a lifetime license! And, they offer a 50% discount for verified students.

Questions? Please let me know in the comments! 👇

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