How to Pay for Chinese AI APIs Without Alipay or WeChat Pay (2026)

Short answer

Yes. You can use most Chinese model APIs without Alipay or WeChat Pay, in two ways:

1. Pay the vendor directly. DeepSeek, Zhipu (Z.ai), Alibaba Cloud (Qwen and Wan) and ByteDance's BytePlus (Seed and Seedance) run international platforms that take bank cards, and several also take PayPal. The exceptions are Kimi, whose billing FAQ lists only WeChat Pay and Alipay for individual top-ups, and MiniMax, which doesn't name its online payment methods.
2. Use a gateway. On TeamoRouter you top up once by card or with USDT and call DeepSeek, Kimi, GLM, Qwen, Doubao Seed and MiniMax models with one OpenAI-compatible key. Seedance and Wan are not on TeamoRouter, so for those you need BytePlus or Alibaba Cloud.

What each vendor accepts

Checked on each vendor's official pages on October 26, 2026:

A few details from the same pages:

• Z.ai says 3DS verification isn't supported for recharges, so a card that insists on a 3DS check will be declined.
• Alibaba Cloud sets your payment options by the contracting entity of your account, which depends on the residence or billing address you gave at sign-up. PayPal isn't offered for every entity, and prepaid, virtual and gift cards are rejected. The same table lists stablecoin payment through TripleA for some entities. Its Model Studio list also includes third-party models such as kimi-k3 and GLM-5.3, so a card on Alibaba Cloud can reach Kimi too; check which region serves the model you want.
• BytePlus notes that some regions and card types aren't fully supported for online card payment. Without a card you can request a credit limit.
• Kimi needs a top-up of at least $1 before you can call the API (recharge rules).

Each vendor is a separate account, balance and API key.

Pay once through TeamoRouter

TeamoRouter is an API gateway: one key and one prepaid balance for Chinese models and for Claude, GPT and Gemini. You don't need an account with each vendor.

How you pay:

• Top up from $5 by card (processed by Stripe). Alipay also works if you have it.
• No subscription. Usage is billed per token from one balance shared by all models.
• With crypto: click Pay with crypto in the top-up dialog and pay USDT, USDC or ETH from Binance, OKX or any exchange app or wallet. No browser extension is needed. Networks open by amount: BEP20 from $5, ERC20 and Base from $10, TRC20 from $30. The invoice is valid for 60 minutes. Step by step: how to pay with USDT.

Chinese models in the catalog (model IDs as of October 26, 2026):

• DeepSeek: deepseek-flash-1017, deepseek-v4-pro
• Moonshot: kimi-k3.1-pro, kimi-k3
• Zhipu: glm-5.3, glm-5.3-flash
• Alibaba: qwen3.8-max, qwen3.8-flash
• ByteDance: doubao-seed-2.1-pro, doubao-seed-2.1-lite
• MiniMax: MiniMax-M3, minimax-m3.1-flash

Vendor list prices per million tokens (input / output) on October 26, 2026:

TeamoRouter bills these models at or below the vendor's list price. The discount changes with supply, so check the pricing page for today's numbers; DeepSeek's peak and off-peak hours are explained in DeepSeek V4.1 Flash API.

Not on TeamoRouter: Seedance (ByteDance) and Wan (Alibaba) video and image models. Buy those on BytePlus ModelArk or Alibaba Cloud Model Studio, using the payment notes above.

API example

Create a key in the dashboard. Any OpenAI-compatible SDK or tool works with the base URL https://api.teamorouter.com/v1, and switching vendors means changing the model string:

from openai import OpenAI

client = OpenAI(
    base_url="https://api.teamorouter.com/v1",
    api_key="your TeamoRouter key",
)

for model in ["deepseek-flash-1017", "kimi-k3.1-pro", "glm-5.3", "qwen3.8-max"]:
    resp = client.chat.completions.create(
        model=model,
        messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Reply with one short sentence."}],
    )
    print(model, "->", resp.choices[0].message.content)

Full reference: API integration.

FAQ

Can I pay DeepSeek directly with a card? Yes. DeepSeek's FAQ lists PayPal and bank cards alongside Alipay and WeChat Pay.

Can I buy Kimi API credit without Alipay or WeChat Pay? Kimi's billing FAQ lists only those two for individual top-ups; business accounts can ask sales about bank transfer. Without them, call kimi-k3.1-pro through TeamoRouter, or use kimi-k3 on Alibaba Cloud Model Studio, which takes cards.

How do I pay for Seedance or Wan without Alipay? Neither is on TeamoRouter. Seedance is sold on BytePlus ModelArk, which takes credit and debit cards. Wan is on Alibaba Cloud Model Studio, which takes major cards and, in some regions, PayPal.

Why was my card declined on Z.ai or Alibaba Cloud? Z.ai doesn't support 3DS verification on recharges. Alibaba Cloud rejects prepaid, virtual and gift cards, and the methods it offers depend on your account's region.

Is there a subscription on TeamoRouter? No. You top up from $5 and pay per token. The same balance covers Chinese models, Claude, GPT and Gemini.

Can I pay for Chinese model APIs with USDT? Yes, on TeamoRouter. Click Pay with crypto in the top-up dialog and send USDT, USDC or ETH from any exchange app or wallet, from $5 on BEP20. See how to pay with USDT.

Next steps

• Kimi K3.1 Pro API: pricing and Claude Code setup
• DeepSeek V4.1 Flash API: pricing and peak hours
• API integration guide
• Current prices for all models
• Paying for AI APIs with crypto