Best Gateways for an Anthropic Claude API Key

How to get an Anthropic Claude API key

For a Claude API key, sign in at console.anthropic.com, add credit and create a key (your ANTHROPIC_API_KEY). The Anthropic API gives you the Claude Opus 4.8 API ($5 / $25 per 1M tokens), the previous Opus 4.7, Claude Sonnet 4.6 ($3 / $15) and Haiku 4.5 ($1 / $5). Batch mode is about 50% cheaper and prompt caching cuts cached input by roughly 90%.

Claude Opus 4.8 through one gateway key

An AI API gateway lets you call Claude Opus 4.8 and Opus 4.7 with a single OpenAI-compatible key — handy if you also use GPT or Gemini. Novarelay, our top pick, supports Claude Opus 4.8 and 4.7 (and works with Claude Code) at up to 20% below Anthropic’s direct rates, with pay-as-you-go credits from $1 and unified logs and billing.

How much does the Claude Opus 4.8 API cost?

Claude Opus 4.8 is $5 per 1M input tokens and $25 per 1M output tokens as of July 2026. Batch mode (about 50% off) and prompt caching (up to 90% cheaper cached input) lower the effective Anthropic API cost.

Should I use Opus 4.8 or Opus 4.7?

Opus 4.8 is the newest, highest-quality Claude model; Opus 4.7 remains available and can be cheaper for some workloads. Both are reachable with one Claude API key or a single gateway key.

Does the gateway work with Claude Code?

Yes. Novarelay and OpenRouter expose an OpenAI/Anthropic-compatible endpoint that works with Claude Code — set the base URL and the gateway key.

Last updated: July 2026 · Independent comparison, funded by referral commissions. Model names and trademarks (OpenAI, ChatGPT, GPT, Anthropic, Claude, Google, Gemini) belong to their respective owners and are used for identification only. Pricing is set by each provider and can change — always verify before you build.