Third-party gateway undercuts OpenAI by 30%

What it does

NeuroAPI is a hosted API proxy that sits between your code and OpenAI’s text models. It offers drop-in access to gpt-3.5-turbo and gpt-4o without requiring a VPN or foreign-issued credit card, billing instead through cryptocurrencies and Russia’s MIR system. You register on their site, fund an account, and point your existing OpenAI client at their endpoint.

The interesting bit

The value here is entirely in the plumbing. NeuroAPI solves the unglamorous problem of sanctions and cross-border payment blocks by accepting local payment rails and undercutting official API prices by roughly 30 percent.

Key highlights

• Free tier for gpt-3.5-turbo available through both API and a web chat interface
• No VPN or proxy required; marketed specifically for regions with restricted access
• Text-only requests; explicitly no support for function_call or tool_calls
• Image generation is in closed beta and not generally available
• Payment via crypto and MIR cards

Caveats

• The repository appears to be documentation for a hosted service rather than self-hostable software
• Only text models are supported, so workflows requiring tool use are off the table
• Rate limits, latency guarantees, and data handling policies are not detailed in the README

Verdict

Useful if you need a cheaper, region-friendly drop-in replacement for OpenAI’s API and can live without tool support. Avoid if you require function calling, image generation today, or are uncomfortable routing prompts through a third-party proxy whose operational details remain undocumented.