RelayVano API Relay: Claude API Keys and What 401, 402, 429 Mean

How does one RelayVano API key reach Claude, GPT and Gemini models?

RelayVano is an independent relay made for developers worldwide, and one API key reaches every model through https://api.relayvano.com. The OpenAI-compatible /v1 route serves OpenAI-compatible models, the Anthropic /v1/messages route serves Claude models, and the native Gemini /v1beta route serves Gemini models. That means you can point different tools at the same credential instead of juggling a separate key for each model family.

There is one pairing rule worth knowing before you start, because it explains a surprising number of first-day errors. Claude models work only in the official Claude Code and Claude Desktop clients, version 2.1.285 or newer. Codex, Cursor, Cherry Studio, Cline, OpenCode, OpenAI SDKs and cURL pair only with GPT, DeepSeek and the other non-Claude, non-Gemini models. Gemini models use the native Gemini protocol only, in Gemini CLI; they are not OpenAI-compatible.

So, as a short checklist for your setup:

• Claude Code or Claude Desktop, version 2.1.285 or newer, for Claude models such as Claude Sonnet 5.5 and Claude Opus 5.5.
• Codex, Cursor, Cherry Studio, Cline, OpenCode, OpenAI SDKs or cURL for GPT, DeepSeek, Qwen3.8 Max, Kimi K3 and similar models.
• Gemini CLI for Gemini 3.1 Pro, Gemini 3.8 Flash and Gemini 4 Argon, using the native Gemini protocol.

If a request fails immediately after you paste a key, the client pairing is often the reason, not the key itself. RelayVano also comes in six languages across the site, dashboard and docs: 中文, English, Español, हिन्दी, Português and Français. Prices appear in yuan on the Chinese pages and in approximate dollars on the others, so the same numbers stay familiar wherever you are working.

Why does RelayVano return a 401 response?

A 401 response is the HTTP standard's way of saying the request was not authorized. In practice, when you see a 401 from RelayVano, treat it as a credential or routing problem rather than a model problem. The model you asked for is rarely the cause.

Common causes include a key that was copied with extra spaces, a key that was pasted into the wrong field, an expired or revoked key, or a request that never sent the key at all. Another frequent cause is a mismatch between the route and the client: asking Gemini CLI to talk a protocol it does not speak, for example, or trying to reach a Claude model from a tool that only understands the OpenAI-compatible protocol.

The straight answer is to check three things in order: confirm the key is active in your RelayVano dashboard, confirm the base address is https://api.relayvano.com, and confirm the client and model belong to the same pairing group listed above. If you are logged in and the key still will not authenticate, send us a message under Messages in the dashboard and we will help you sort it out.

What does a 402 response mean for my RelayVano balance?

A 402 response means payment is required. On RelayVano, this is the signal that the request reached our side but your prepaid balance could not cover it. RelayVano sells nothing but pay-as-you-go balance: there is no monthly fee, you are charged per token, and your balance never expires.

Because billing is token-based, a 402 usually appears when the balance is empty or too small for the tokens the request consumed. New accounts start with $0.40 of credit, which is enough to make a few small calls and confirm that your client, key and model all line up. After that, add funds and the same key keeps working.

One detail that helps with planning: prompt tokens, reply tokens, cache stores and cache hits are priced separately, and every request shows up with its charge on the usage page. So if a 402 seems sudden, open the usage page and look at what recent calls actually cost. You will see the charge for each request, which makes it straightforward to judge whether the balance or the request size is the real issue.

Why am I seeing 429, and how should I respond to it?

A 429 response means too many requests. It indicates that the request was understood but rejected for now because of request volume. This is the response to retry, not a reason to change your key or your model.

The practical approach is to treat it as backpressure. Pause for a moment, then retry with a short delay between attempts, and increase the spacing gradually if 429s keep appearing. If you are sending bursts of parallel calls, trimming concurrency is usually more effective than retrying harder.

It is worth separating a 429 from a 402. A 402 says the balance cannot cover the work; a 429 says the pace is too high. Fixing one does not fix the other. And if a 429 shows up alongside a client that does not match the model family, remember that pairing still matters: Claude models run only in Claude Code and Claude Desktop, and Gemini models run only through the native Gemini protocol in Gemini CLI.

What will pay-as-you-go pricing look like on RelayVano?

RelayVano pricing is per token, in four separate buckets: prompt, reply, cache store and cache hit. Fares are shown as approximate US dollars per million tokens, with 1 USD ≈ ¥7.2, while the actual charge is made in yuan. Comparing a RelayVano fare with a vendor's subscription is usually the clearest way to see the value, especially for a team that sends a steady stream of requests.

Take an example: suppose you send 200 requests a day, and each request uses 1,000 prompt tokens and 1,000 reply tokens on MiniMax M3. MiniMax M3 is priced at $0.1472 prompt and $0.5889 reply per million tokens, so one such request costs about $0.0007361. Over 200 requests, that is about $0.147 per day, or roughly $4.42 across a 30-day month. This is only an example based on those fares; your own mix of prompt and reply lengths will differ, and cache hits can lower the cost further.

The same comparison works for larger models. Claude Sonnet 5.5 is listed at $1.25 prompt and $6.25 reply per million tokens, against an official list price of $3 / $15. GPT-6.1 Sol is listed at $0.1958 prompt and $0.9792 reply per million tokens, against an official list price of $2 / $10. Claude Fable 5.1 is listed at $4.07 prompt and $20.33 reply per million tokens, against an official list price of $10 / $50. These are per-token fares, so the more you use, the more the arithmetic matters.

Two billing details make the numbers easier to trust. First, if a caller disconnects mid-stream, the request is still finished and billed on the tokens really used, so an interrupted call does not turn into a surprise charge for tokens that were never produced. Second, every request appears with its charge on the usage page, which turns a 402 or a budget question into something you can actually check rather than guess.

How do I top up, invite others and get help?

Top-ups run through Stripe checkout. Cards work everywhere, and WeChat Pay is available where your account supports it. If you change your mind, unspent top-ups can be refunded within 9 days, which makes a first experiment low-risk. New accounts begin with $0.40 of credit, so you can create a key, try a small request and read the usage page before committing to anything larger.

RelayVano also has a referral program. You earn 16% of every top-up by people who sign up through your link, and 4% one level further. Earnings can be withdrawn from $5.56 or moved straight into your balance, which is convenient if you would rather spend them on requests immediately.

Support is built into the product: logged-in members write to us under Messages in the dashboard, so a question about a 401, a 402 or a 429 stays attached to your account and your billing history. The dashboard and docs are available in six languages, which matters when your team is spread across time zones and languages.

One key, one base address and a clear set of client pairings make the setup short. Create your RelayVano account, start with the $0.40 credit, connect your client to https://api.relayvano.com and watch the first charge appear on the usage page. When you are ready to scale, top up through Stripe and keep the same key. Sign up for RelayVano and give your first request a try.