Where referral rewards land and what they are worth
SwiftRelay runs on a simple loop: you top up a balance, you make calls, and each call deducts only what it used. There is no monthly fee and nothing to subscribe to, so the money you bring in behaves like money you can actually use. Referral rewards fit right into that loop. When someone you invited tops up, SwiftRelay credits you 14% of that top-up, and 3% from the people those invitees go on to invite.
Those rewards sit in your account as real value, not points. From there you have two doors: withdraw them, or move them into your balance and spend them on calls. The minimum withdrawal is $4.86, which is a low bar to clear once a couple of friends start topping up. Nothing expires on a schedule you have to chase, and nothing is locked behind a tier.
For a sense of scale, say you spend a day on GPT-6.1 Sol at input $0.1736 per 1M tokens, output $0.8542 per 1M tokens and cache read $0.0347 per 1M tokens. Your spend is drawn from your balance token by token, so a reward you move in covers exactly that, with no rounding up to a plan. This is an example only, using the prices SwiftRelay lists today.
Choosing between cashing out and re-spending
The choice is genuinely yours, and both routes are quick. Cashing out sends the reward out to you once it clears the $4.86 minimum. Re-spending simply folds the reward into your balance, where the next call draws from it straight away. If you are mid-sprint and want the runway now, moving it to the balance keeps you coding without a pause. If you would rather see the reward land in your pocket, withdraw it.
Re-spending has a nice compounding feel. You invite someone, they top up, you take 14% of that top-up, and your balance grows while you keep working. Then when their invitees top up, the 3% layer adds to it. There is no admin step to remember and no separate wallet to reconcile, because SwiftRelay keeps everything in one account with one balance.
Example: say a friend tops up $27.78. That is 14% of $27.78 credited to you from that single top-up. Keep going and the balance you spend on tokens keeps refilling from the same place your normal top-ups do. This is an example only, and the arithmetic uses the figures in the SwiftRelay rules.
Turning rewards into calls in minutes
Once rewards are sitting in your balance, spending them is the same as spending any top-up. SwiftRelay is a pay-per-token API relay, so you connect in minutes: copy three lines and run. Usage lists tokens and cost per call, so you can watch exactly where the reward goes.
For Claude Code, the three lines look like this:
01 export ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL=https://api.fastapirelay.com 02 export ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN=<your swft_ key>
claude
That is the whole setup. Your swft_ key comes from the account, up to 20 live API keys per account, and the balance behind it now includes whatever rewards you chose to move in.
What your rewards can buy at SwiftRelay prices
Because billing is per token, reward value maps directly onto work. Say you spend a day on DeepSeek V4 Flash at input $0.2639 per 1M tokens, output $1.06 per 1M tokens and cache read $0.006944 per 1M tokens. Your usage line shows tokens and cost per call, so you can see the reward balance drain in step with real output. This is an example only, using the prices on the SwiftRelay pricing page.
If you are working with Gemini models, the same balance pays for them too. Gemini uses its native protocol through Gemini CLI, and the three lines are:
01 export GOOGLE_GEMINI_BASE_URL=https://api.fastapirelay.com 02 export GEMINI_API_KEY=<your swft_ key>
gemini
Prices vary by model, so the reward you earned stretches differently depending on what you run. Gemini 2.5 Flash is listed at input $0.1875 per 1M tokens, output $1.50 per 1M tokens and cache read $0.0194 per 1M tokens, while Gemini 3.1 Pro is listed at input $1.35 per 1M tokens, output $7.81 per 1M tokens and cache read $0.1347 per 1M tokens. Knowing the numbers helps you aim your rewards at the work you actually want to do.
Keeping rewards useful and reversible
SwiftRelay keeps the safety net close. If you top up and change your mind, unused credit is refundable within 11 days of that top-up, minus what was used and the payment fee. That applies to balance you funded yourself, and it means the account never traps you.
Support is handled through Messages in the dashboard, with a login required, so questions about a withdrawal or a balance move go to a real thread tied to your account. There is no support email to hunt for. Everything stays inside SwiftRelay, from the reward ledger to the token usage list.
Compared with keeping your own subscription or official account running month after month, per-token billing means a reward balance only ever goes down when you actually call. No idle month costs you anything. That is the shape of the deal, and it is why rewards here feel like fuel rather than a coupon.
Two quick reward examples to run the numbers
Example one, re-spend: an invitee tops up $13.89. You receive 14% of that top-up, and you move it into your balance. You then spend it on GPT-6.1 Sol calls at input $0.1736 per 1M tokens, output $0.8542 per 1M tokens and cache read $0.0347 per 1M tokens, with usage showing tokens and cost per call. This is an example only.
Example two, cash out: rewards accumulate past the $4.86 minimum and you withdraw them instead. Nothing else changes about your account, and you can still top up the balance separately at $1.39, $6.94, $13.89, $27.78, $69.44 or $138.89 whenever you want more runway. This is an example only.
Either way, the mechanics stay plain: invite, earn 14% and 3%, then choose cash or credit. SwiftRelay keeps it legible so you can spend your attention on the work instead of the billing. Sign up, grab your $0.22 gift credit, and start the lap.