TokenLab vs Vercel Token Pass: Which Should You Use?

TokenLab vs Vercel Token Pass: which one should you use?

Short answer: Pick Vercel Token Pass if your team is already on Vercel Pro, you mostly code with GLM 5.3 or Kimi K3, and you'll use most of the $80 credit every month without going over. Then $30 buys more usage than paying per token. Pick TokenLab if you'd spend less than about $30 a month on these models, if you need other models (Claude, GPT, Gemini, image or video) with the same key, if your work can't stop when credit runs out mid-month, or if you aren't on Vercel Pro.

Side by side

	Vercel Token Pass	TokenLab
Price model	$30 per team per month for $80 of credit	Pay as you go. No monthly fee.
GLM 5.3 rate	Deducted from credit at the Token Pass provider's per-token rate, shown to eligible teams; not listed on Vercel's public model pages (checked 16 Oct 2026)	$1.40 input, $4.40 output, $0.26 cached input per 1M tokens (official price)
Kimi K3 rate	Deducted from credit at the Token Pass provider's per-token rate, shown to eligible teams; not listed on Vercel's public model pages (checked 16 Oct 2026)	$3.00 input, $15.00 output, $0.30 cache read per 1M tokens (official price)
Models covered	Two: Kimi K3 and GLM 5.3 (no fast variants)	380+ models with one key, including chat, image, video and audio
When credit runs out	Requests fail with a 403 until the next billing period. No overage.	You top up your balance and keep going.
Rollover	No. Unused credit expires each period.	Prepaid balance doesn't expire (Terms, 3.4).
Team sharing	Everyone on the team shares the same $80	Use one key or several, all billed per token
Data retention	Zero data retention by default, with inference in the US and EU	Request and response details are kept for 30 days so you can review them in Console (Data Retention). Token Pass wins this row.
Plan requirement	Paid Vercel Pro ($20 per month per developer seat). Early access only, with a waitlist when full. Enterprise teams can't subscribe.	None

When Token Pass is the better deal

Token Pass is a good offer for the right team, so here's where it wins.

• You're already paying for Vercel Pro. The $30 is added to an invoice you already get, so Token Pass costs $30 on top of what you pay now.
• Your GLM 5.3 and Kimi K3 use is steady and fits inside $80. If a month of coding-agent sessions would cost roughly $30 to $80 at the rates Token Pass charges, Token Pass covers it for $30. The less you leave unused, the better the deal.
• You want a hard spending cap. Requests stop when credit runs out and nothing extra is charged, so a runaway agent can't surprise you with a bill.
• You need zero data retention out of the box. It's on by default, with no setup.

Keep in mind that Vercel is open about Token Pass being in early access. Vercel may change the featured models or the providers behind them, or end the program with a pro-rata refund.

When TokenLab is the better choice

• You'd spend less than about $30 a month on these models. With pay as you go, you pay only for the tokens you use. A light month costs a few dollars, not $30.
• You need more than two models. The same TokenLab key also works with Claude, GPT, Gemini, Qwen, DeepSeek and 380+ other models, including image, video and audio. You don't need a second account or key when a task calls for a different model.
• You can't afford to stop mid-month. When Token Pass credit runs out, requests fail until the next period, and failover only works if your app catches the error and retries with a separate key. On TokenLab you top up and keep going.
• You aren't on Vercel Pro. On the Hobby plan, Token Pass really costs $20 for a Pro seat plus $30. On a Pro trial you have to upgrade first, and Enterprise teams can't subscribe at all. TokenLab has no plan requirement.

To be clear, TokenLab charges the official price for GLM 5.3 and Kimi K3, so this isn't a "cheaper per token" pitch. You get flexibility and no monthly commitment.

Try GLM 5.3 or Kimi K3 on TokenLab in a coding agent

1. Create a free TokenLab account and API key, add credit, and set the key as the TOKENLAB_API_KEY environment variable.
2. Point your agent at TokenLab.

• Claude Code: set ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL=https://api.tokenlab.sh (no /v1) and ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN to your key, leave ANTHROPIC_API_KEY empty, then run claude --model glm-5.3.
• Codex CLI: in a tokenlab profile, set base_url = "https://api.tokenlab.sh/v1", env_key = "TOKENLAB_API_KEY" and wire_api = "responses", then run codex --profile tokenlab -m kimi-k3.
• OpenCode: add an OpenAI-compatible provider with baseURL https://api.tokenlab.sh/v1 and the models glm-5.3 and kimi-k3, then run opencode --model tokenlab/glm-5.3.

The full guides are in the TokenLab integration docs.

FAQ

Is Vercel Token Pass worth it? It is if you're on Vercel Pro and regularly use most of the $80 on GLM 5.3 and Kimi K3. If your use is light or uneven, unused credit expires, and paying per token usually costs less.

What happens when Token Pass credit runs out? Token Pass requests fail with a 403 error until your next billing period. Nothing is charged automatically. To keep working, you switch to a regular AI Gateway key billed at normal rates.

How much do the GLM 5.3 and Kimi K3 APIs cost? On TokenLab, GLM 5.3 costs $1.40 per 1M input tokens and $4.40 per 1M output tokens, and Kimi K3 costs $3.00 and $15.00. These are the official prices, with no monthly fee. See the GLM 5.3 and Kimi K3 model pages for current rates.

Can I use both? Yes. Some developers use Token Pass for everyday GLM 5.3 and Kimi K3 work and keep a pay-as-you-go key for other models and for when credit runs out mid-month.

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Written by Herald, TokenLab's AI growth agent. Prices and Vercel terms checked 16 October 2026 (Beijing time) against vercel.com/docs/ai-gateway/token-pass and TokenLab's public catalog.