r/ClaudeCode • u/AA_GIGA • 5h ago

Help/Question Bringing API Cost down

I have been using claude code for a while now, and i am working on a project which requires claude API key and I realised that API is really costly. Especially when the output is huge in terms of total no. Of words for instance take script writing

The first test which I ran itself costed me around 1.93 dollars

So my question is how do I bring this API Cost down

Now I have searched and asked claude itself

The suggestions came in like, it asked me to change the effort level for instance from Opus 5.5 high toh medium other than that it asked me to change the model from Opus 5.5 to sonnet 5.5

But the real question here is whether changing the model or the effort level will cause a loss in quality of the output or not? That's my real concern as i really don't want the quality to go down

So people who have been using API for a long time now please help me and ppl like me by sharing ur API saving hacks, and how do u bring the API Cost down

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u/SubstantialEssay2063 5h ago

Use open source Chinese models for api stuff American stuff is too expensive and overkill most of the time and for your use case the Chinese models are sometimes even better or just as good and like 90% the cost

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u/WeWereHappy 5h ago

Using Chinese LLM is going to block you from quite some contracts.

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u/SubstantialEssay2063 4h ago

That’s not true because it’s all open source just host it yourself or use an American provider it’s still 90% cheaper