How to Get an AI API Key in India Without a Credit Card (2026)

There are two ways to get an AI API key in India. You can sign up with each provider (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, DeepSeek) and pay in dollars, which usually needs a card that works for international payments. Or you can use an Indian gateway like Velona, pay ₹10 or more with UPI, and get one key that works with GPT, Claude, Gemini, DeepSeek and 300+ other models.

This guide compares both routes and shows the five-minute setup for the second one.

Option 1: Get a key from each provider directly

Signing up with a provider directly usually means:

A card that works for international transactions
Prepaid credit in US dollars, typically a few dollars minimum
Your bank's forex markup on every top-up
A separate account, key and bill for each provider

This works well if you have a reliable international card and only need one provider. Many Indian students and developers don't, or run into declined payments.

Option 2: One key for every model, paid in rupees

With Velona you get a single API key that works with models from every major provider:

You want	Model ID to use	Input ₹ / 1M tokens
An OpenAI (GPT) key	`openai/gpt-4o-mini`	₹15.54
A Claude key	`anthropic/claude-sonnet-5`	₹207.22
A Gemini key	`google/gemini-2.5-flash`	₹31.08
A DeepSeek key	`deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash`	₹2.90
A Grok key	`x-ai/grok-4.20`	₹129.51

Prices are from 4 October 2026 and follow the live exchange rate. They include Velona's transparent 7% platform fee, explained in our pricing explainer.

How to get your key in 5 minutes

Sign up at velona.in with your Google account.
Add money in your wallet with UPI, RuPay, a domestic card or net banking. The minimum is ₹10.
Create a key on the API Keys page. Copy it immediately, because it is only shown once.
Set a budget on the key so it can never spend more than you intend.

For a more detailed, step-by-step version of this setup, see our first API key guide.

Make your first request

Velona works with the official OpenAI SDK. Store your key in an environment variable, then:

pip install openai

import os
from openai import OpenAI

client = OpenAI(
    api_key=os.environ["VELONA_API_KEY"],
    base_url="https://velona.in/v1",
)

response = client.chat.completions.create(
    model="deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash",
    messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Say hello in Hindi."}],
)

print(response.choices[0].message.content)

Change the model value to any ID from the table above to use GPT, Claude, Gemini or Grok with the same key.

Keep your key safe

Never put the key in frontend JavaScript or a public GitHub repository. Call the API from your backend.
Store it in an environment variable or a .env file that is listed in .gitignore.
Use a separate key for each project, each with its own budget.
If a key is ever exposed, delete it on the API Keys page and create a new one.

Frequently asked questions

How much does an AI API key cost in India?

The key itself is free. You pay only for usage, from a wallet you top up from ₹10. A short chat reply costs under ₹0.01 on DeepSeek V4 Flash and about ₹0.02 on GPT-4o mini.

Can I get an OpenAI API key without a credit card in India?

Through Velona, yes. You pay with UPI or another Indian method, and use OpenAI models with the model ID openai/gpt-4o-mini or any other OpenAI model in the catalogue.

Is the Claude API available in India?

Yes, through Velona. See Claude API in India: price in ₹ and how to pay with UPI.

Can I use DeepSeek in India?

Yes. Our DeepSeek API in India guide covers prices and setup.

What is the cheapest AI API key?

Every key is free, and the cheapest strong model to use with it is DeepSeek V4 Flash at ₹2.90 per 1M input tokens. See the cheapest models page for the full list.

Get your API key now and start with ₹10.

How to Get Your First AI API Key in India