YandexGPT 5 Lite API — price in US dollars

What YandexGPT 5 Lite is

YandexGPT 5 Lite is the junior model of the YandexGPT line. It has a 32,768-token context window, takes text in and gives text out, and belongs to the chat and text generation category. Through kosareva.cloud it is available via one OpenAI-compatible API: the same code as for OpenAI — just change base_url and the key.

Yandex models are not available on OpenRouter as of October 2026. Here a company outside Russia gets YandexGPT 5 Lite with an English invoice in US dollars from Kosareva Cloud LLC (Armenia) and pays by bank transfer. Requests to YandexGPT 5 Lite are processed in Russia, on Yandex infrastructure.

One key opens more than YandexGPT 5 Lite: the catalog has over a hundred models, including the other Yandex models. That matters more than it seems: models age within months, and moving to the next version is one line of code, not a new contract and a new integration.

YandexGPT 5 Lite strengths and weaknesses

Who it suits. Pipelines: tagging and classifying requests, extracting fields from short documents, answers that follow an instruction, first-pass filtering before an expensive model.

What to compare it with. Against YandexGPT 5.1 Pro ($13.10 / $13.10): four times cheaper, with noticeably simpler answers. Against Alice AI Flash ($1.64 / $3.27): twice the input price, the same output price and half the context, and Flash has a cache discount — compare the two on your own requests.

YandexGPT 5 Lite among the Yandex models

YandexGPT 5 Lite is the lowest-priced YandexGPT: a quarter of the price of YandexGPT 5.1 Pro with the same 32K context. Among all Yandex chat models in our catalog it is second on input price after Alice AI Flash ($1.64) and shares the lowest output price with it, $3.27.

YandexGPT 5 Lite price in US dollars

Approximate: the catalog price (280 ₽ per 1M tokens for both input and output) divided by 85.5 ₽ per $1, ID Bank’s non-cash rate on 3 October 2026. Your balance is kept in rubles; a USD invoice is converted at ID Bank’s non-cash rate on the invoice date. You pay only for actual usage.

What a typical task costs on YandexGPT 5 Lite

A price per million tokens says little on its own, so here are four common tasks at YandexGPT 5 Lite rates: $3.27 per million input tokens and $3.27 per million output tokens.

Calculated from the current kosareva.cloud price list, in US dollars at 85.5 ₽ per $1. The document row is shorter than on Alice AI: a 40,000-token document does not fit into a 32K context.

YandexGPT 5 Lite cost calculator

Move the sliders to your volume — the monthly cost in US dollars updates at once, with no sign-up.

At $3.27 per million input tokens and $3.27 per million output tokens; approximate, at 85.5 ₽ per $1. Billed for actual usage.

How to connect YandexGPT 5 Lite

Use the standard OpenAI SDK with the kosareva.cloud base_url and the model yandexgpt-5-lite. In existing code you change exactly two lines: the address and the key.

Python, OpenAI SDK

from openai import OpenAI

client = OpenAI(
    api_key="YOUR_KOSAREVA_KEY",
    base_url="https://api.kosareva.cloud/v1",
)

response = client.chat.completions.create(
    model="yandexgpt-5-lite",
    messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Hello!"}],
)
print(response.choices[0].message.content)

Python without the SDK: requests

import requests

response = requests.post(
    "https://api.kosareva.cloud/v1/chat/completions",
    headers={"Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_KOSAREVA_KEY"},
    json={
        "model": "yandexgpt-5-lite",
        "messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "Hello!"}],
    },
    timeout=600,
)
print(response.json()["choices"][0]["message"]["content"])

cURL

curl https://api.kosareva.cloud/v1/chat/completions \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_KOSAREVA_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"model":"yandexgpt-5-lite","messages":[{"role":"user","content":"Hello!"}]}'

The same key works with any client that supports an OpenAI-compatible endpoint: LangChain, LlamaIndex, Cursor, Continue, n8n. You don’t need a separate key per model — one key opens the whole catalog.

YandexGPT 5 Lite endpoints and parameters

The gateway follows the OpenAI schema, so parameter names and the response format are the ones you know. One base address for every model in the catalog.

Request long answers with stream: true: with a large max_tokens, a regular request stays silent until generation ends and can hit your HTTP client’s timeout. In streaming mode the first tokens arrive within seconds, and the timeout problem goes away.

Specifications

What YandexGPT 5 Lite is good for

• Classifying and tagging requests, extracting fields from short documents
• Chatbots, assistants, Q&A and customer support in Russian

What to keep in mind with YandexGPT 5 Lite

The classic way to save: Lite sorts out the simple cases on the first pass, and anything unclear goes to an expensive model. Since output costs as much as input, ask for short answers in a fixed format — long ones buy you nothing here.

First, context runs out faster than it seems. In a dialogue the whole conversation goes into the input, not just the last message, so a long chat gets more expensive with every turn. If the history isn’t needed for the answer, trim it: savings on input tokens usually matter more than picking a cheaper model.

Second, the 32K-token window is shared between the request and the answer: the more you send, the less room the model has to generate. Set max_tokens on purpose, not “with a margin”.

Third, the balance is shared by all models in the catalog. You don’t have to decide in advance how much money to “put on YandexGPT 5 Lite”: the same funds go to any other model if you switch tomorrow. Usage per model is shown in the dashboard on a separate line, with the number of requests and tokens.

YandexGPT 5 Lite for companies outside Russia

YandexGPT 5 Lite by Yandex, the junior YandexGPT: a quarter of the price of 5.1 Pro, 32K context, requests processed in Russia. Access through kosareva.cloud with an OpenAI-compatible API and a USD invoice for companies.

• Register as “Company or sole proprietor” → “In another country”: country of registration, company registration number, tax ID if you have one.
• In “Top up balance”, “Issue invoice (companies)” gives an English invoice in US dollars from Kosareva Cloud LLC (Armenia): minimum $50, due in 10 days.
• Pay by bank transfer to our USD account at ID Bank. The balance is credited after the bank confirms the payment, usually in 1–3 business days.
• Cards issued outside Russia are not accepted. Invoices are in USD; for EUR, write to us.
• Pay only for actual usage, no subscription. One OpenAI-compatible API for YandexGPT 5 Lite and over a hundred other models with one key.

Requests to YandexGPT 5 Lite are processed in Russia, on Yandex infrastructure. If you are in the EU or send personal data of EU residents, assess the GDPR side before you send it. You are responsible for compliance with the rules of your jurisdiction.

Other Yandex models

Price per 1M input tokens. The full list with output prices — in the US dollar price table.

YandexGPT 5 Lite questions