Understanding Velona's INR Pricing: How Pay-As-You-Go AI Billing Works
Every model on Velona is priced with one published formula: the provider's USD price × the live USD/INR rate × 1.005 (forex buffer) × 1.07 (platform fee). You pay that in rupees from a prepaid wallet you top up with UPI, starting at ₹10. There is no subscription, no monthly minimum and no per-seat charge.
This page explains the formula with real examples, what you get for the 7% fee, and when paying a provider directly might suit you better.
The pricing formula
Rupee price = Provider USD price × live USD/INR rate × 1.005 × 1.07- Provider USD price: the price the model's provider charges, per 1M tokens.
- Live USD/INR rate: fetched automatically, so prices track the real exchange rate.
- 1.005 forex buffer: 0.5% to cover rate movement between refreshes.
- 1.07 platform fee: 7% for infrastructure, support and payment processing.
Input tokens (what you send) and output tokens (what the model writes back) are priced separately, and output usually costs more.
Worked example: Claude Sonnet 5
Claude Sonnet 5's provider price is $2 per 1M input tokens. At an exchange rate of 96.35:
$2 × 96.35 = ₹192.70
₹192.70 × 1.005 = ₹193.66
₹193.66 × 1.07 = ₹207.22 per 1M input tokensThat ₹207.22 is exactly what the Claude Sonnet 5 page shows. The same formula applies to every model, so you can check any price yourself.
What real requests cost
Rupee prices per 1M tokens as of 4 October 2026, and what a short chat reply (1,000 tokens in, 500 out) costs on each:
| Model | Input ₹ / 1M | Output ₹ / 1M | One chat reply |
|---|---|---|---|
| DeepSeek V4 Flash | ₹2.90 | ₹5.80 | under ₹0.01 |
| GPT-4o mini | ₹15.54 | ₹62.17 | about ₹0.05 |
| DeepSeek V4 Pro | ₹21.63 | ₹43.27 | about ₹0.04 |
| Gemini 2.5 Flash | ₹31.08 | ₹259.02 | about ₹0.16 |
| Claude Sonnet 5 | ₹207.22 | ₹1,036 | about ₹0.73 |
Live prices for all 300+ models are on the pricing page and the model catalogue.
Velona or paying the provider directly?
| Paying the provider directly | Velona | |
|---|---|---|
| Currency | US dollars | Rupees |
| Payment method | Usually an international card | UPI, RuPay, domestic cards, net banking |
| Extra cost | Your bank's forex markup and GST on it, which varies by card | 7% platform fee and 0.5% buffer, already included in the price |
| Minimum to start | Usually a few dollars of prepaid credit | ₹10 |
| Models | That provider's models only | 300+ models from many providers, one key |
To be clear about the trade-off: if you already have an international card that works smoothly and you only use one provider, paying directly can cost less than the 7% fee. Velona is for developers who don't have that card, keep hitting payment declines, want to start small in rupees, or want many models behind one API key and one bill.
How the wallet works
- Sign up and top up your wallet with UPI or another Indian payment method.
- The amount is credited as soon as the payment confirms.
- Each API call deducts its exact rupee cost, based on the tokens used.
- Top up again whenever you need to. Nothing renews automatically.
Keeping track of what you spend
Your usage page lists every request with its model, tokens and rupee cost. You can create a separate API key for each project and give each key its own budget, so one project can never use up the balance meant for another.
Frequently asked questions
Does my balance expire?
No. Your balance stays in your wallet and only goes down when you make API calls.
What happens when my balance runs out?
Requests stop once your balance reaches zero, so you can never be billed more than you topped up. For refunds, see the refund policy.
Why do prices change slightly from day to day?
Because they follow the live USD/INR exchange rate. The formula itself stays the same.
Is there a subscription or monthly fee?
No. You only pay for the tokens you use.
Ready to try it? Follow our step-by-step guide to your first API key and start with ₹10.