Getting started with the Venice API: staking, keys, and pricing

A privacy-first API built for agents

Venice API gives you private, uncensored AI that does not log your prompts or responses. Where major providers collect and store request data, Venice is built to remove that surveillance layer and the censorship that often comes with it.

The platform is designed to reduce economic friction for AI agents. Instead of forcing every call through banks, fiat payments, and geographic restrictions, Venice offers an alternative access model based on staking, which the next sections cover in detail.

What sets the Venice API apart

Most APIs, including OpenAI and Anthropic, charge you per request. Venice supports a different path: users and agents can stake Venice tokens to access ongoing inference rather than paying for each individual call.

That difference matters for anyone running agents or long-lived applications. Staking gives you a recurring daily allowance of inference capacity without per-request billing through traditional payment rails, while keeping your usage private.

How token staking unlocks daily inference

The Venice API uses two units of value. USD API credits can be purchased through Stripe. Alternatively, you can stake the Venice VVV token and receive a daily balance of DM, where one DM equals one US dollar inside the API.

To stake, open the token page in the left-hand sidebar, buy your VVV tokens, then click the stake button and choose how much to stake. Each day you receive a share of DM proportional to your stake relative to all tokens currently staked across users. The video notes roughly 2 million tokens staked at the time of recording, so your daily DM depends on your percentage of that total.

DM represents units of Venice's inference capacity. If you run out of DM in a given day, the next epoch begins within 24 hours and your balance resets, so staked access continues for as long as you keep your tokens staked.

Upgrading to Pro and funding your account

The API dashboard is reached from the link in the left-hand menu, and the Venice API is available only to Pro users. If you have not upgraded yet, do that first.

Once you are on Pro, the dashboard shows your available balance in both USD and DM. From here you can purchase USD credits via Stripe, manage your stake, and watch your usage accrue in real time. Keep both balance types in mind: you can fund your account with USD, DM, or a combination of the two.

Generating and managing API keys

With your account funded, generate a key from the API dashboard. Click generate new API key, then give it a name or description. Choose the key type carefully:

• Admin keys grant full control, including managing and deleting other keys.
• Inference-only keys allow operations like chat and image generation.

You can optionally set an expiration date or consumption limits before creating the key. When the key is created you see the private value only once, so copy it and store it somewhere safe. The same page shows your 7-day usage so you can track activity per key.

Key takeaways

• Venice API is private and uncensored, and it does not log your prompts or responses.
• Staking VVV tokens earns a daily DM allowance for ongoing inference; one DM equals one US dollar, and balances reset each epoch within 24 hours.
• The API requires a Pro account; fund it with Stripe USD credits, staked DM, or both, then generate admin or inference-only keys and save each private key once.
• Match models to your use case using the docs and pricing page, and migrate from OpenAI by pointing your base URL to venice.ai/api/v1.