Kimi API International: Payment, Sign-Up and Rate Limits
By Nicho
If you're outside mainland China, use Moonshot AI's international platform, platform.kimi.ai. You can sign up with email or Google and start with a $1 top-up. Two things catch new accounts out: Kimi's help center lists only WeChat Pay and Alipay for individual top-ups, and a $1 account can run only one request at a time.
This guide covers the international platform as it stood on October 28, 2026, checked against Moonshot's official docs. It also covers a second route: calling Kimi K3 through cheapaimodel with a card, from the same account you use for GLM and DeepSeek. For API keys, K3 billing details and coding-tool setup, see Kimi API key and pricing.
Quick answers
- Which site: platform.kimi.ai outside mainland China. The API base URL is
https://api.moonshot.ai/v1. - Sign-up: an email verification code or Google. The docs don't describe identity checks for individual developers.
- Payment: a $1 top-up unlocks the API. The help center lists WeChat Pay and Alipay QR codes for individuals and doesn't mention credit cards.
- Rate limits: set by your total top-ups. At $1 you get 1 concurrent request and 3 requests per minute; at $10, 15 and 100.
- Refunds: fees are non-refundable unless the agreement or the law says otherwise.
Which Kimi platform to use: platform.kimi.ai or platform.kimi.com
| International | Mainland China | |
|---|---|---|
| Console | platform.kimi.ai (formerly platform.moonshot.ai) | platform.kimi.com (formerly platform.moonshot.cn) |
| API base URL | https://api.moonshot.ai/v1 |
https://api.moonshot.cn/v1 |
| Operator in the terms | Moonshot AI PTE. LTD., Singapore | Moonshot's mainland company |
Kimi's troubleshooting guide says it directly: "For users outside mainland China, use platform.kimi.ai." Accounts and keys from the two platforms are separate. A key from one platform gets a 401 invalid_authentication_error on the other.
Watch your links. Some Kimi pages, including the Kimi K3 launch post, point to platform.kimi.com, the mainland platform.
Kimi API sign-up
On platform.kimi.ai you sign in with an email verification code or with Google. Kimi's changelog shows it added overseas phone numbers in January 2025 and email sign-up with Google account binding in July 2026. The terms require you to be at least 18.
The international docs don't describe identity verification for individual developers. Companies get a "Verify Organization" option.
Does the Kimi API accept credit cards?
Kimi's help center doesn't say so. It says individual online top-ups "support WeChat Pay and Alipay QR code payments." Businesses can contact sales or use the methods shown in their account. Check the top-up page in your console for the options available in your region.
The rest of the billing rules:
- Minimum: a top-up of at least $1 is required before you can call the API.
- Bonus: when your total top-ups reach $5, Kimi adds a $5 voucher. Vouchers don't count toward your rate-limit tier.
- Prepaid: the API is pay-as-you-go, with no subscription.
- Taxes: listed prices exclude tax. Kimi says tax is calculated at checkout based on your jurisdiction.
- Refunds: the terms say fees are non-refundable except as the agreement or the law provides. If you close the account, any remaining balance is deleted.
Kimi API invoices
You request invoices under Invoice Management in the console, based on either the consumed amount or the top-up amount. Kimi's help center names Beijing Moonshot AI Technology Co., Ltd. as the issuing entity, with a 6% tax-inclusive rate. If your accounting needs an invoice from a particular entity, ask Kimi support before you top up.
Kimi API rate limit tiers
Limits are set by your total top-ups:
| Tier | Total top-ups | Concurrency | RPM | TPM | TPD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tier0 | $1 | 1 | 3 | 500,000 | 1,500,000 |
| Tier1 | $10 | 15 | 100 | 2,000,000 | Unlimited |
| Tier2 | $20 | 40 | 100 | 3,000,000 | Unlimited |
| Tier3 | $100 | 50 | 200 | 3,000,000 | Unlimited |
| Tier4 | $1,000 | 60 | 200 | 4,000,000 | Unlimited |
| Tier5 | $3,000 | 100 | 300 | 5,000,000 | Unlimited |
A $1 account can run one request at a time, at three requests per minute. That is enough to try the API, but not enough to run a coding agent. If you plan real work, top up at least $10, or ask for higher limits with Kimi's rate limit increase form.
Two more things to know:
- An empty balance, an overdue account or an expired voucher returns
429 exceeded_current_quota_error. Requests cut off by a 429 aren't charged. - If Kimi's risk control flags an account for abnormal activity, the docs say the restriction "cannot be lifted."
Kimi API pricing: K3 and K3.1 Pro
| Model | Input / 1M | Cache hit / 1M | Output / 1M |
|---|---|---|---|
| kimi-k3.1-pro | $2.00 | $0.20 | $10.00 |
| kimi-k3 | $3.00 | $0.30 | $15.00 |
Cache writes on kimi-k3 cost $3.00 per million tokens for a 5-minute cache and $6.00 for 1 hour. All K3 models have a 1,048,576-token context window. Kimi is retiring its older K2 models; its pricing page says all of them go by the end of December 2026. The Kimi API accepts both OpenAI and Anthropic request formats.
Kimi K3 with a credit card: the cheapaimodel route
cheapaimodel is a prepaid, OpenAI-compatible API for open-weight models. You sign in with Google, top up in US dollars and call Kimi, GLM and DeepSeek with the same key.
| Kimi platform (kimi-k3) | cheapaimodel (kimi-k3) | |
|---|---|---|
| Input / 1M | $3.00 | $2.093511 |
| Cache read / 1M | $0.30 | $0.209351 |
| Cache write / 1M | $3.00 (5 min) | $2.093511 |
| Output / 1M | $15.00 | $10.467555 |
Our prices were taken from cheapaimodel's live model list on October 28, 2026, and are 30% below Moonshot's list price for kimi-k3.
What you get on cheapaimodel:
- Payment: a credit or debit card (Visa, Mastercard, American Express, JCB), Apple Pay, Google Pay or Link through Stripe Checkout, in US dollars. Stripe emails the receipt.
- Top-ups: $5 minimum, no subscription. One balance covers every model.
- Rate limits: not tiered by how much you have topped up. If you need sustained high throughput, email support.
- Per-key controls: set a spending limit, an expiration date, and model or IP allowlists on each key.
To weigh Kimi K3 against the other models on the same key, see DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash vs Kimi K3 and GLM-5.3 vs Kimi K3.
When Kimi's own platform is the better choice
- kimi-k3.1-pro: Kimi's newer flagship is listed at $2.00 / $10.00, a little below our kimi-k3 price. We don't offer K3.1 Pro.
- Anthropic-format calls: you want to call Kimi from tools that only speak that format. cheapaimodel serves the OpenAI format only.
- Refunds: our top-ups are non-refundable except as set out in our terms.
Call Kimi K3 through cheapaimodel
Use any OpenAI SDK. Set the base URL to https://api.cheapaimodel.ai/v1 and the model to kimi-k3:
from openai import OpenAI
client = OpenAI(
base_url="https://api.cheapaimodel.ai/v1",
api_key="YOUR_API_KEY",
)
reply = client.chat.completions.create(
model="kimi-k3",
messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Summarize this repo's README in three bullets."}],
)
print(reply.choices[0].message.content)
The quickstart walks through sign-in, top-up and your first key. Live prices for every model are on the pricing page.
Using GLM or DeepSeek too?
This is one of three guides for developers outside China. The other two cover the GLM API on Z.ai and paying for the DeepSeek API. All of these models run on one cheapaimodel key; see all open-source models.
Sources: Kimi troubleshooting, Kimi top-up and rate limits, Kimi model pricing, Kimi account and billing help, Kimi sign-in, Kimi platform changelog, Kimi API terms.