Direct answer
One Fikra key calls every route available to your account at /v1/models. Set https://api.fikraapi.co.ke/v1 as base_url; the cataloged price, context window and rate limit apply per route, and the wallet debits per request. No separate provider accounts.
Live numbers as of 2026-11-14
These figures come from the public stats snapshot generated on 2026-11-14 from backend ledgers. They show volume and reliability only; they do not prove any single route wins your workload. Run your own 50 prompts before you move budget.
| Metric | Value | What it tells you |
|---|---|---|
| All-time requests | 126,617 | 109 days since launch |
| All-time tokens processed | 5,460,329,009 | 2,299,586,240 served from cache |
| Requests, last 30 days | 116,189 | 5,437,162,745 tokens across 82 active routes |
| Registered developers (all time) | 424 | Self-serve accounts, prepaid |
| Live model routes | 31 | Catalogue at /models; machine list at /v1/models |
| DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017, last 30 days | 63,202 | cache-hit rate 12.94% |
| DeepSeek V4.1 Flash Economy (free), last 30 days | 8,741 | cache-hit rate 97.36%; free window, not an SLA |
| 30-day uptime | 98.95% | 88,390 health checks; status currently reports attention, re-check /status before production |
What the routes cost right now
Prices are USD per 1M tokens, taken from the live registry snapshot dated 2026-11-14. The KES columns use the checkout rate of KES 133 = $1; your bank or card issuer may add its own conversion margin on top.
The catalogue is authoritative at /v1/models (the OpenAI-compatible listing) and at /models (the public card with context windows and rate limits). Check both before a production commitment; prices move with provider terms.
See the live list from your terminal: curl -s https://api.fikraapi.co.ke/v1/models -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_FIKRA_KEY"
| Model ID | Input / 1M | Cached input / 1M | Output / 1M | Input KES / 1M | Output KES / 1M |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| deepseek-v4.1-flash-1017 | $0.05 | $0.0075 | $0.15 | KES 6.65 | KES 19.95 |
| deepseek-v4.1-flash | $0.05 | $0.0075 | $0.15 | KES 6.65 | KES 19.95 |
| qwen3.8-27b | $0.045 | $0.045 | $0.35 | KES 5.98 | KES 46.55 |
| glm-5.3-flash | $0.1875 | $0.0375 | $0.625 | KES 24.94 | KES 83.12 |
| glm-5.3 | $1.225 | $0.225 | $3.85 | KES 162.93 | KES 512.05 |
| kimi-k3 | $2.4375 | $0.24375 | $12.1875 | KES 324.19 | KES 1,620.94 |
Model access patterns buyers actually use
| Workload | Route to start with | Cost shape |
|---|---|---|
| Support and triage | deepseek-v4.1-flash-1017 | $0.05 in / $0.15 out; cache hits lower it further on long sessions |
| Code and bug fixing | glm-5.3-flash or qwen3.8-27b | $0.1875/$0.625 and $0.045/$0.35; run your own 50-prompt A/B |
| Long documents | deepseek-v4.1-flash-1017 with cached input | cached input $0.0075 per 1M when the prefix is stable |
| Multimodal and media | MiniMax H3 or managed image routes | MiniMax H3 is $0.50 per generation; check /v1/models for the current route |
| Embeddings and search | fikra-embed | $0.05 input, output free of charge; good for RAG at low cost |
Why one key beats ten accounts
The friction for a Ethiopia team is not the token price, it is the settlement path. Each provider dashboard means another foreign-merchant charge, another FX margin and another declined card at the worst moment. One wallet means one conversion at top-up and one place to reconcile spend.
You also get one support path and one audit trail: request IDs from every call, spend per key, and platform telemetry at /stats. If a route degrades, /status shows it instead of a support ticket queue.
Plans and rate limits
Self-serve plans are prepaid per 30 days with no SLA. Every tier allows 3,000 requests per minute and 250,000 requests per day per account, which covers development and most early production workloads without a sales conversation.
| Plan | Price / 30 days | Default daily window | API keys | Seats |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lite | $10 | $0.50 per day | 1 | - |
| Pro | $25 | $1.50 per day | 2 | - |
| Max | $60 | $5.00 per day | 5 | 20 |
How to start in Ethiopia in ten minutes
- Create the account at /account/signup and verify the email address.
- Copy the fk_live_ key from the dashboard and store it somewhere safe; it is shown once.
- Open /dashboard and pay by USD card. The minimum top-up is $5. Conversion from Ethiopian birr happens at your card issuer's rate and fees, not at a Fikra-set rate. Kenya also shows M-Pesa and Airtel Money; Ethiopia does not.
- Point your OpenAI client at https://api.fikraapi.co.ke/v1 and set the model to deepseek-v4.1-flash-1017.
- Run 50 prompts from your own workload, then open /stats and the dashboard to check token spend and cache hits before you scale.
- Cap the key with a budget in the dashboard, keep the route that wins your prompt set, and drop the rest.
curl https://api.fikraapi.co.ke/v1/chat/completions \
-H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_FIKRA_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"model":"deepseek-v4.1-flash-1017","messages":[{"role":"user","content":"Summarise this ticket in two lines."}]}'
Questions buyers ask
Can I pay from Ethiopia without a foreign credit card?
Not at this checkout. Ethiopia buyers pay by USD card; the Kenya checkout additionally shows M-Pesa and Airtel Money. Mobile money is not available outside Kenya on this checkout, so plan your funding path before onboarding a team.
How much do I need to start?
The minimum top-up is $5. Self-serve plans are prepaid per 30 days: Lite $10, Pro $25, Max $60. Every tier allows 3,000 requests per minute and 250,000 per day. There is no free production tier; free windows are trials.
Which model ID should I use first?
Use deepseek-v4.1-flash-1017 for text, code and summarisation at $0.05 input and $0.15 output per 1M tokens. Confirm it is listed at /v1/models before production, then compare against qwen3.8-27b and glm-5.3-flash on your own prompts.
Does Fikra sign an SLA?
No. Self-serve is prepaid and has no SLA. Platform 30-day uptime is published at /status (98.95% over 88,390 checks as of 2026-11-14, with status reported as attention). If you need a contractual commitment, contact support before you sign anything.
Where do I see my spend?
The dashboard shows balance and per-key usage; /stats publishes platform-wide telemetry from the same ledgers. Keep request IDs from production calls if you need to reconcile a charge.