OpenRouter
Route across model providers with explicit handling of platform fees, free limits and data-policy choices.
- Starting price
- Model rates + Standard 5.5%
- Free access
- 50 requests/day on free plan
- Billing unit
- Tokens and platform terms
- Platform
- Unified chat and API
- Verified
- 22 Oct 2026
Overview
What you provide
- Choose an eligible model and route, then send a chat or application request through the unified interface.
What you get
- OpenRouter returns the selected provider model response and usage information.
Choosing this tool
OpenRouter fits an app that values switching providers behind one API more than operating a single model host. Routing can improve flexibility, but it also introduces provider-specific availability and policy choices. Compare Together AI for direct hosted inference and DeepInfra for another direct model-service price table.
A decision worked through
Fifty free requests each day is at most 1,500 requests across 30 days if available every day; unused daily capacity is not a monthly token bank. For a paid deployment, estimate input and output tokens for the selected model, then apply the platform terms rather than budgeting only a provider headline rate.
OpenRouter alternatives for multi-provider model routing
Compare OpenRouter with Together AI, DeepInfra for multi-provider model routing. Match billing units and operating responsibility before comparing rates.
| Product | Price / unit | Free allowance | Input → output | Key limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OpenRouterRead profileOfficial source ↗ | Standard: model cost + 5.5% | 50 free-plan requests/day | Messages become routed responses. | Provider policies still differ. |
| Together AIRead profileOfficial source ↗ | gpt-oss-120B USD 0.15/0.60 per 1M | Free allowance unverified | Model requests become text or media. | Dedicated services price separately. |
| DeepInfraRead profileOfficial source ↗ | Llama 3.3 70B USD 0.10/0.32 per 1M | Free quota unverified | Prompts become metered model output. | Priority 1.5x; Flex 0.8x. |
Setup & workflow
- Select allowed providers and data policies before enabling automatic routing.
- Run a bounded test and inspect model identity and token usage.
- Configure spend controls and review fallback responses.
Requirements & installation
- Create API access and explicitly select permitted models and providers for the application.
Limits & review
- Free-model availability and throughput are constrained. A unified API does not make provider retention policies, context limits or model capabilities identical.
Your part
- Test fallback behavior, inspect the provider policy and verify the resulting response before use.
Sources & verification4
This profile is based on official sources, not a hands-on product test.
Vendor descriptions and demos document advertised features. Editorial guidance is based on these sources.
- Official OpenRouter functionalityopenrouter.ai
- Official OpenRouter pricingopenrouter.ai
- Together AI official referencewww.together.ai
- DeepInfra official referencedeepinfra.com
