How to Pay for the Claude API With USDT or Alipay (2026)

Updated 2026-10-10. Claude models on cloudgpu.app are currently available through Claude Code only. The last step below shows the Claude Code setup.

The most common reason developers outside the US cannot use the Claude API has nothing to do with the model. It is the payment step. The card is declined for a foreign SaaS charge, the bank blocks it as suspicious, or there is no international card at all. Plenty of capable teams in Asia, Latin America, Africa and the Middle East give up right there.

cloudgpu.app sells Claude API access from a prepaid balance you can top up with the methods that actually work in those places: USDT on TRC-20, Alipay, Google Pay, Apple Pay, or a Visa / Mastercard. This post walks through each method step by step and lists the mistakes that cost people money.

What you are paying for

Your top-up becomes a USD balance on your cloudgpu.app account. Every API call deducts tokens at the rates below. The balance is prepaid, so it is also a hard spending cap, and it does not expire.

Claude prices, USD per 1M tokens, as of 8 October 2026 (ours / official list, exactly 50%):

Model	Input	Output
claude-opus-5-5	$2.00 / $4.00	$10.00 / $20.00
claude-opus-5, claude-opus-4-8, claude-opus-4-7, claude-opus-4-6	$2.50 / $5.00	$12.50 / $25.00
claude-sonnet-5-5, claude-sonnet-5	$1.00 / $2.00	$5.00 / $10.00
claude-sonnet-4-6	$1.50 / $3.00	$7.50 / $15.00
claude-fable-5-1, claude-fable-5	$5.00 / $10.00	$25.00 / $50.00

No Haiku model is available. Live prices are on the /api page.

Before any payment: create the account

1. Sign up at cloudgpu.app with email or Google.
2. Open the billing page. All top-ups start here.

Option 1: USDT (TRC-20)

Best if you already hold USDT on an exchange or in a wallet, or if no card or wallet app works for you.

1. On the billing page, choose USDT (TRC-20).
2. Follow the deposit instructions shown there. Copy the address exactly; paste it rather than typing it.
3. In your exchange or wallet, withdraw or send USDT and select the TRC-20 / Tron network.
4. Wait for the transfer to confirm. Your balance updates on the billing page once it is credited.

Mistakes that lose money:

• Wrong network. Only TRC-20 is accepted. USDT sent on another chain (ERC-20, BEP-20 and so on) to a Tron address will not arrive as balance. Double-check the network field in your exchange’s withdrawal form; it is the single most common error.
• Wrong token. Send USDT, not TRX or another coin.
• Exchange fees. Your exchange may charge a withdrawal fee, so the amount that arrives can be lower than the amount you entered. Check the “you will receive” line.

Option 2: Alipay

Good for anyone with a working Alipay account.

1. On the billing page, choose an amount of $5 or more and start the checkout.
2. Select Alipay in the checkout.
3. Confirm in the Alipay app (scan the QR code or approve the redirect).
4. You return to cloudgpu.app and the balance appears.

Option 3: Google Pay or Apple Pay

Often the easiest path when a card is rejected for direct online foreign charges but works through a phone wallet.

1. On the billing page, choose an amount of $5 or more.
2. In the checkout, pick Google Pay or Apple Pay. The option appears when your browser and device support it; Apple Pay generally needs Safari or an Apple device.
3. Approve the payment on your phone or with your device’s authentication.

Option 4: Visa or Mastercard

1. On the billing page, choose an amount of $5 or more.
2. Enter your card in the checkout.
3. Complete any 3-D Secure step your bank asks for.

If the card is declined, try the same card through Google Pay or Apple Pay, or switch to Alipay or USDT. Banks treat these routes differently.

The first top-up bonus

Your first top-up of $10 or more gets a $5 bonus. Top up $10 and you start with $15. There is no sign-up credit; the bonus comes with that first top-up.

Referral: 5% back as balance

If you bring other developers, you earn 5% of their top-ups as account balance. Share your referral link from your account; when a referred user tops up, 5% of that amount is added to your balance, which you can spend on Claude, other models or GPU rental like any other balance.

Then use Claude in Claude Code

Claude models on cloudgpu.app are currently available through Claude Code only. Once the balance is there, create a key in the API console and point Claude Code at the gateway:

export ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL=https://cloudgpu.app
export ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN=cgw-sk-...
export ANTHROPIC_MODEL=claude-sonnet-5-5          # or claude-opus-5-5
export ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_HAIKU_MODEL=claude-sonnet-5-5   # Haiku is not offered
claude

The same settings work in the Claude Code extensions for VS Code and JetBrains. Calling Claude from the OpenAI SDK, the OpenAI-compatible endpoint, curl, Cursor, Cline or Continue is not supported right now; the same balance still pays for every other model through https://cloudgpu.app/v1 in those tools.

For the full Claude Code setup, see Claude Code with a cheaper API endpoint. For model choice and a broader overview, see Cheap Claude API access with Alipay and no US card.

What to know before paying

• Independent, not official. cloudgpu.app is not affiliated with the model vendor. You are buying API access from a gateway, billed from a prepaid balance.
• No failover. The gateway runs in Hong Kong. There is no automatic failover and no SLA; an outage pauses your calls.
• Privacy. Prompt and completion bodies are not stored. Token counts are kept for billing.
• Prices can change. The table above is dated 8 October 2026; the /api page is always current.

Start with a small top-up

Whichever method you choose, start small. A $10 first top-up gets the $5 bonus and is enough to run Claude Code on Sonnet for a day, check the quality and the billed tokens in the console, and confirm your payment route works end to end. Only then load more. The balance does not expire, so there is no reason to prepay a large amount up front. Top up at cloudgpu.app/billing and get a key at cloudgpu.app/api.