FAQ

1What is Zukko in plain words?

One key to many AI models: Claude, GPT, Gemini, DeepSeek, Qwen, Kimi and others. You top up one balance and pay only for what you use — no subscriptions, no monthly fee. You can use it from your own code, from editors such as Claude Code and Cursor, in the browser chat, or through the Telegram bot @zukkopro_bot. Where to start: First request in 3 minutes.

2Is it legal and safe?

Yes, it is legal. Zukko works under a public offer — the Terms of Service. Zukko is an intermediary: it takes your request, passes it to the model you chose and returns the answer. Zukko does not build or train models itself and is not affiliated with Anthropic, OpenAI or Google.

As for safety: connections are HTTPS only, and Zukko does not record the content of your requests (see the next question). Your part is to keep the key secret and never publish it in code, chats or screenshots.

3Do you store my data and prompts?

No. Zukko does not store or log the content of your requests to models or their answers — this is also stated in the Privacy Policy. Only service data about each request is kept — which model, how many tokens, what it cost — and that is what your spending history is built from. Account data is stored too: email, Telegram ID if you sign in with Telegram, payment history.

The request text does, of course, go to the model you chose — otherwise it could not answer.

There are two exceptions, both of which you turn on yourself: the response cache (the X-Zukko-Cache header, the answer is kept for 7 days) and Idempotency-Key (the answer is kept for 24 hours). They save the answer so that a repeat is free. More in Key limits and caching.

4How do I pay?

Top up on the Balance & payments page in the dashboard:

• SBP — in rubles, at the market USD rate; the payment service adds about 8.5%, and the total is shown before you pay;
• crypto;
• foreign cards — the payment service adds about 13% on top.

Russian bank cards are temporarily not accepted — please use SBP.

The minimum top-up is $1. The balance is kept in dollars and each request is charged by actual usage. More in Billing.

5Can I get a refund?

Under the terms, money for requests already served is not refunded. A refund is possible if:

• the payment went through but the balance was not credited;
• the service was not provided because of a technical fault on Zukko's side.

Contact support within 24 hours of the payment — each case is decided individually.

Note that failed requests are not charged anyway: if the model returned an error or the request was rejected before reaching the model, you pay nothing.

6Why is Zukko cheaper than the official websites?

Zukko buys capacity in bulk and shares it among users, so the price per token is lower than buying directly at retail. Easy to compare: every model's price is in Models & pricing.

7Which model should I pick?

In short:

• simple bulk tasks (sorting, data extraction, short answers) — deepseek-v4.1-flash, qwen3.8-flash, claude-haiku-5-5;
• an everyday all-rounder — claude-sonnet-5;
• the hardest work (large code bases, long reasoning) — claude-opus-5-5.

In detail, with examples: How to choose a model.

8Does Zukko work in Russia?

Yes, and no VPN is needed. You pay in rubles via SBP, and support speaks Russian. Zukko is also available through the Telegram bot @zukkopro_bot.

9Can I use it without programming?

Yes. There is a browser chat and the Telegram bot @zukkopro_bot with a mini app — just type your questions. They all spend the same balance.

10Can I use it in Claude Code or Cursor?

Yes, that is one of the most common uses. The key thing is the right address:

• Claude Code: https://api.zukko.pro (without /v1), the key in ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN — guide;
• Cursor: https://api.zukko.pro/v1 in the Override OpenAI Base URL field, paid Cursor Pro required — guide.

Other editors and agents: Choosing a provider.

11Are there rate limits?

Zukko has no request-rate limit of its own. Limits come in two kinds:

• limits you set on a key yourself (daily or monthly spend, allowed models) — details;
• temporary overload of the model itself — you get a 429 and should retry in 10–30 seconds.

A request also needs a verified email and a balance of at least $0.01, and a single request can be up to 32 MB.

12How do I give a key to a contractor or a bot safely?

Create a separate key for them on the API keys page and limit it right away:

• set a daily and a monthly spend cap — the key will not spend more than that (the cap is soft: the last request may go slightly over);
• allow only the models they need — for example, block the expensive Opus.

When the work is done or the key leaks, delete it: your other keys keep working. The balance is shared across the account — all keys spend the same money.

13How do I see what I spent?

• In the dashboard, on the Usage page — every charge with the model and token counts.
• Via the API — GET /v1/usage and GET /v1/balance.
• Every regular API response has an X-Zukko-Cost-Micros header — the cost of that request in millionths of a dollar.

The history covers the whole account: every key, the web chat and the Telegram bot. To spend less, see How to pay less.

14Does unused balance expire?

There is no monthly fee: money is charged only for requests. The terms do not set an expiry date for the balance. If the account is closed, the remaining balance is not refunded.

15Is there a free trial?

There is no trial period and no sign-up bonus. You can get $0.50 once for subscribing to the @zukkopro Telegram channel — claim it in the dashboard. The minimum top-up is just $1, and on cheap models that covers thousands of short requests.

16What happens if the money runs out mid-request?

A request that has already started runs to the end, even if the balance goes slightly negative. Further requests get a 402 error until you top up — the top-up covers the negative part first.

17What can't Zukko do?

Zukko works with text models: chat, JSON answers that follow a schema, tool calling, image understanding on models that accept images, and web search. There are currently no embeddings, no speech recognition or synthesis, no file uploads, no batch API and no fine-tuning.

18How do I contact support?

• Telegram: t.me/zukkopro — the fastest way.
• Email: zukkopro@rambler.ru.

Include the time, the model and the error text, and only the last 4 characters of your key. What else to attach: Something went wrong.

19What's next