Shift note: a ten-minute wallet and pass check

The shift objective is simple: get one request working, then decide whether a prepaid wallet alone or a wallet plus a monthly pass fits the team’s usage. Relay365 is worth considering when a team wants pay-as-you-go access to several model families through one relay desk.

No team invoice or current pass terms were supplied for this article. The figures below are an explicitly illustrative worksheet, not a customer case study or a statement of Relay365 pricing. To make the decision on your team’s real numbers, substitute a recent complete month of usage and the terms displayed in your account.

Minutes zero through two: record the spending rules

Before funding anything, distinguish payment timing from usage cost. A prepaid wallet holds money for future requests. A monthly pass is worthwhile only if its verified benefits exceed its fee for the usage you actually expect.

• Record the wallet’s minimum funding amount, balance-expiry rules, refund terms, and any payment charges shown at checkout.
• Record the pass fee, billing period, renewal behavior, eligible models, benefit limits, and whether unused benefits expire.
• Check whether the pass grants credits, changes request prices, or provides another benefit, because these require different calculations.

Do not assume that a pass replaces wallet funding or that its benefits apply to every request. If the terms are unclear, keep the first test small and postpone the pass decision.

Minutes two through five: connect one client

Relay365 works with Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI, and OpenAI SDK clients. Its API base is https://api.api365relay.com; OpenAI clients use https://api.api365relay.com/v1. Enter the appropriate base URL and your Relay365 API key in your client’s supported configuration.

Use an exact model identifier from the service’s current model listing rather than guessing an API identifier from a display name. For example, select Gemini 2.5 Flash if it is available for your account, then send one short, non-sensitive test request. Keep the key out of source control and shared logs.

Confirm that the response arrives and that the request appears in the usage record. This is a connectivity and billing check, not evidence of production reliability or a complete cost estimate.

Minutes five through eight: run the team-cost worksheet

Consider an illustrative team whose comparable monthly requests cost $240 at ordinary usage rates. Of that amount, $200 is eligible for a hypothetical pass benefit and $40 is not. Assume, solely for this calculation, that the pass costs $30 monthly and discounts eligible usage by 20%, without caps or additional charges.

• The wallet-only usage cost is $240 for the month.
• The eligible usage with the hypothetical pass costs $200 multiplied by 0.80, which equals $160.
• The combined monthly cost is $160 in eligible usage, plus $40 in other usage, plus the $30 pass fee, totaling $230.
• The net saving is $10, not $40, because the discount must first recover the pass fee.

The break-even point is $30 divided by 0.20, or $150 of eligible monthly usage. At exactly that amount, the discount merely covers the fee. Below it, this hypothetical pass costs more than wallet-only usage.

Keep cash funding separate from consumption. Loading $300 into a wallet and consuming $240 leaves $60 prepaid; it does not make that month’s requests cost $300. Track opening balance, funds added, usage deductions, other adjustments, and closing balance separately.

Minutes eight through ten: leave a decision for the next shift

Replace the example with the team’s usage export, separating eligible and ineligible spend. Recalculate using the actual pass structure. If it supplies credits rather than a discount, count only credits the team can realistically consume before expiry.

For a new or irregular workload, wallet-only funding is the simpler starting point. For repeatable eligible usage that comfortably clears the verified break-even point, a pass may be sensible. Recheck after model changes or quieter months.

If this multi-model workflow fits your team, create a Relay365 account and start with one controlled test. Leave the next shift the tested client configuration, actual request cost, wallet balance, and pass decision. Treat any referral bounty earned when invited users pay as separate income, not as a reduction in the workload’s operating cost.