Baidu ERNIE (Wenxin) API review

Name: Baidu ERNIE (Wenxin) API
Item: Baidu ERNIE (Wenxin) API
Author: DeployCue

Updated September 28, 2026 · DeployCue Editorial Team · Facts checked September 26, 2026

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Our verdict

Baidu ERNIE (Wenxin) API fits teams working in the Chinese market that want ERNIE and DeepSeek models behind an OpenAI-compatible endpoint from a provider based in China. Input starts at CNY 0.80 and output at CNY 3.20, which keeps a low-volume build affordable, while context reaches 128,000.

Key facts

Best for: ERNIE and DeepSeek access billed in local currency from a China-based provider
Input price from: CN¥0.80↗
Output price from: CN¥3.20↗
Models offered: ERNIE-5.0, ERNIE-5.0-Thinking-Preview, ERNIE X1.1 Preview, ERNIE 4.5 Turbo VL, ERNIE 4.5 Turbo, ERNIE-4.5-VL-28B-A3B, DeepSeek-V3.1-Think, DeepSeek-V3.1↗
Largest context window: 128,000↗
Free credits: CNY 20 voucher for new users after real-name verification, valid for one month↗
OpenAI-compatible API: Yes↗
Legal entity: Baidu, Inc.↗
Headquarters: China↗
Founded: 2000↗
Support channels: Phone, Chat, Help-centre, Community↗
Official website: baidu.com

Storage

Price per GB per month: CN¥0.119↗
Egress price per GB: CN¥0.25 to CN¥0.49↗
Free egress: Internet inbound traffic and all intranet inbound/outbound traffic are free↗
S3-compatible: Yes↗
Minimum storage period: 30 days↗
Regions: from 7↗
Storage types: Object↗

GPU cloud

GPU models: NVIDIA Tesla A100-80G, NVIDIA Tesla A10, NVIDIA Tesla V100, NVIDIA Tesla T4, NVIDIA P4↗
Egress fee: Cross-region outbound traffic from BOS is charged a fee↗
Locations: 8↗
Interconnect: NVLink interconnect (600GB bidirectional) on GN5 A100-80G, and 800G RDMA network with GPU Direct on LGN5↗
Pricing model: Free tier

CDN

Price per GB: CN¥0.21 to CN¥0.24↗
Free tier: Yes↗
Points of presence: 1,000↗

Facts checked September 26, 2026, 13 sources

Apps and profiles

Elsewhere: Wikidata Wikipedia X

Pros and cons

Pros

Input from CNY 0.80 and output from CNY 3.20 are quoted in local currency, so a team already paying in that currency avoids conversion.
ERNIE 5.0, ERNIE 5.0 Thinking Preview and ERNIE X1.1 Preview puts first-party ERNIE tiers and open-weight DeepSeek behind one endpoint, served through an OpenAI-compatible API.
A free tier plus object storage at CNY 0.12 per GB per month gives a cheap place to start.

Cons

Cross-region outbound traffic from BOS is charged a fee means cross-region outbound traffic is billable, so a multi-region design pays twice for the same bytes.
Egress otherwise runs CNY 0.25 to CNY 0.49 per GB, so read-heavy workloads pay on the way out too.
Context tops out at 128,000, below the 1,000,000 most listings here reach.

Ready to try Baidu ERNIE (Wenxin) API?

Scored 9.1 / 10 by DeployCue.

See alternatives

Who it suits

Teams serving users in China who want ERNIE and DeepSeek models billed in local currency
Developers with an existing OpenAI-compatible client who want a second endpoint to route to
Small teams starting on a free tier and a new-user voucher after real-name verification

Who should look elsewhere

Anyone budgeting in dollars: Salad lists input from $0.06
Teams that need a wide catalogue of frontier models: Supascale AI lists DeepSeek V4 Pro, GPT 5.6 Sol and GPT 5.6 Terra

How Baidu ERNIE (Wenxin) API compares

Frequently asked questions

What does a call to an ERNIE model cost?+

Input is billed from CNY 0.80 and output from CNY 3.20, quoted in local currency rather than dollars. Both are entry points for the catalogue, so thinking previews and larger tiers sit above them. Keeping a small pilot on this provider stays inexpensive, which suits teams testing before scaling.

Which models does the API serve?+

The catalogue runs from the latest ERNIE releases through to DeepSeek. ERNIE 5.0, ERNIE 5.0 Thinking Preview and ERNIE X1.1 Preview names the full set, mixing thinking and preview builds with the turbo tiers. That mix lets one endpoint cover first-party Chinese models and open-weight alternatives, so a team can route a job to whichever family fits it.

How large is the context window?+

The largest context window is 128,000, which sits below the 1,000,000 reached across listings here, and ranks 67 of 72 on this measure. Long document work means chunking, or picking a provider built for bigger windows.

Is there a free tier or free credits for new users?+

A free tier is listed, and new users also get a small CNY voucher after completing real-name verification, valid for a short window. Object storage is the other cheap starting point, at CNY 0.12 per GB per month with a minimum storage period of 30.

What does data egress cost?+

Bytes arriving over the internet carry no charge, and neither does traffic moving between machines inside the provider's own network, so only data leaving a region is billable. Cross-region outbound traffic from BOS is charged a fee and outbound rates of CNY 0.25 to CNY 0.49 per GB then apply, which makes a multi-region design pay twice for the same bytes.

What GPU hardware is available for training or fine-tuning?+

The hardware list spans NVIDIA Tesla A100 80G, NVIDIA Tesla A10 and NVIDIA Tesla V100, from data centre parts to smaller inference cards. Networking is built for multi-GPU training, with NVLink paths and RDMA links that carry GPU Direct traffic, so fine-tuning a larger ERNIE checkpoint is realistic on this stack.

Where does the provider run and how is it supported?+

The operator is Baidu, Inc., founded in 2000 and based in China. The service spans 8 locations with object storage across from 7 regions, plus an S3-compatible storage API. Support runs on phone, chat and help centre, giving you phone, chat, a help centre and community.

Sources

sourceforge.net/software/product/Baidu-AI-Cloud-CDN checked September 26, 2026
Backs: Points of presence
“relies on Baidu's self-built 1000+ high-quality nodes”
ai.baidu.com checked September 26, 2026
Backs: Headquarters, Pricing model
“Free trial for 0 CNY, first purchase from 1 CNY”
blog.blazingcdn.com/en-us/what-is-the-price-per-tb-of-bai... checked September 26, 2026
Backs: Price per GB
“lands near ¥0.21-¥0.24 per GB inside mainland China”
cloud.baidu.com checked September 26, 2026
Backs: Support channels
“1-on-1 pre-sales consultation: call a sales advisor; 7*24 after-sales: after-sales AI assistant, ticket service; Qianfan Community; service and support / documentation centre”
cloud.baidu.com/doc/GPU/s/nkpqilr1i checked September 26, 2026
Backs: GPU models, Interconnect
“NVIDIA Tesla A100, FP16 compute 312TFLOPS, 80GB HBM2 per GPU; NVIDIA Tesla A10; NVIDIA Tesla V100 SXM2; NVIDIA Tesla T4; NVIDIA P4”
cloud.baidu.com/doc/qianfan/s/rmh4stp0j checked September 26, 2026
Backs: OpenAI-compatible API
“Files + Batch API usage guide (OpenAI compatible version); OpenAI SDK compatibility introduction”
cloud.baidu.com/doc/Reference/s/2jwvz23xx checked September 26, 2026
Backs: Egress fee, Locations
“A BCC in North China can access BOS in South China, but BOS will incur a cross-region egress fee”
cloud.baidu.com/doc/WENXINWORKSHOP/s/hlrk4akp7 checked September 26, 2026
Backs: Free credits
“New users registering Baidu Qianfan get a CNY 20 voucher after real-name verification, no threshold to use the whole platform, valid for one month”
cloud.baidu.com/product-price/bos.html checked September 26, 2026
Backs: Egress price per GB, Free egress, Minimum storage period, Price per GB per month, Regions
“Internet outbound traffic: peak (8:00-24:00) CNY 0.49/GB, off-peak (24:00-8:00) CNY 0.25/GB”
cloud.baidu.com/product-s/qianfan_home checked September 26, 2026
Backs: Largest context window, Input price from, Models offered, Output price from
“ERNIE 4.5 Turbo VL ... supports 128K context length”
cloud.baidu.com/product/bos.html checked September 26, 2026
Backs: S3-compatible, Storage types
“S3 API protocol compatible: BOS is compatible with the S3 interface protocol, so applications and SDKs built on S3 can connect without code changes”
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baidu checked September 26, 2026
Backs: Founded, Legal entity
“Baidu was incorporated in January 2000 by Robin Li and Eric Xu”
slashdot.org/software/p/Baidu-AI-Cloud-CDN checked September 26, 2026
Backs: Free tier
“Free Trial: Yes”

Compiled from 13 source pages, checked September 26, 2026. We did not open an account.

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