Zhihui API Review: Pricing & Comparison

A new platform with a low barrier to entry

The 2026 AI relay market remains active, and Zhihui API (api.api2cn.com, formerly zhihuiapi.com) is one of the newer relay platforms to launch this year. Facing a market already dominated by established players, Zhihui API picked a clear angle of attack: a low barrier to entry, with competitive Claude pricing.

A ¥5 redemption code — that’s Zhihui API’s starting cost. For a developer who just wants to test whether a given relay platform is trustworthy, a ¥5 trial cost is close to negligible.

Pricing: competitive rates on Opus

Zhihui API prices Claude Opus 4.8 fairly competitively:

• Input tokens: third-party price tracking shows Opus 4.8 channel prices around ¥1-4/million tokens (check the official site for live pricing)
• Output tokens: correspondingly around ¥5-20/million tokens (check the official site for live pricing)

Claude Opus 4.8 is one of the most capable Claude versions currently available, and also the most expensive to run. Competitive pricing on this specific model matters in practice for developers who make heavy use of Opus.

Integration

Zhihui API is compatible with the OpenAI SDK format:

from openai import OpenAI

client = OpenAI(
    api_key="your Zhihui API key",
    base_url="https://api.api2cn.com/v1"  # check the official site for the actual endpoint
)

response = client.chat.completions.create(
    model="claude-opus-4-8",
    messages=[
        {"role": "user", "content": "Help me analyze the design patterns used in this code"}
    ]
)

A sensible approach to using a new platform

For a relay platform that just launched in 2026, a sensible approach is:

1. Test small first: use the ¥5 redemption code to verify the integration and latency before committing to a large top-up
2. Run it in parallel, not as a replacement: treat Zhihui API as a backup relay, while keeping a platform with a longer track record as your primary
3. Keep an eye on how it evolves: a new platform’s promotions and pricing can change quickly, so keep following the official channels

For comparison: established options at a similar price point include WinToken (roughly ¥113 in new-user trial credit) and ProAI API (balanced community reviews); if Opus pricing is your main concern, SBGPT and ZHTec API offer lower exchange rates.

Information verified 2026-08-11. Pricing and promotions are subject to Zhihui API’s current official-site information — as a new platform, details tend to change quickly.

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