OpenRouter by OpenRouter
One OpenAI-compatible API for 500+ models across 80+ providers with routing and fallbacks.
LLM gateways and routers Official MCP server
Price
Free plan
list price
Free tier
Yes
25+ free models, 50 requests/day
SDK downloads
1.3M
npm @openrouter/sdk · PyPI openrouter
Pricing
| Free tier | 25+ free models, 50 requests/day |
|---|---|
| Cheapest paid plan | — |
| Usage price | Provider list price per token (no markup); fee on credit purchases: 5.5% Standard, 8% Business |
| Good to know | Pay-as-you-go credits, no subscription. BYOK: first $25,000 of list-price inference per month without fee, 5% after. Business adds EU/US in-region routing. |
From the official pricing page, checked Oct 9, 2026. Prices change: confirm before you buy.
Use it from an agent
| MCP server | Official: https://mcp.openrouter.ai/mcp |
|---|---|
| npm | npm install @openrouter/sdk |
| PyPI | pip install openrouter |
| GitHub | OpenRouterTeam/typescript-sdk · 262 stars · last push Oct 9, 2026 |
Alternatives to OpenRouter
| API | Free | Price | SDK downloads / wk | GitHub stars | MCP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vercel AI Gateway Unified API to hundreds of models with provider fallbacks, billed at provider list prices. |
$5/month of AI Gateway credits (free-tier... | Free plan then Provider list price per token, zero markup and no... |
27.7M | 27.2K | |
| LiteLLM Open-source proxy and SDK that calls 100+ LLMs in OpenAI format with keys, budgets and logging. |
Open-source gateway free to self-host | Free plan | 22.9M | 60.5K | |
| Portkey AI gateway with routing, fallbacks, caching, guardrails, prompt management and observability. |
Developer: 10k recorded logs/month, 3-day... | Free plan · paid from $49/mo | 925K | 13.2K | |
| Cloudflare AI Gateway Proxy for LLM providers adding analytics, caching, rate limiting, logging and unified billing. |
Core features (analytics, caching, rate... | Free plan then Unified Billing: 5% fee on credits purchased; provider... |
251K | 1,189 | MCP |
| Helicone Open-source LLM observability platform and AI gateway with caching, rate limits and fallbacks. |
Hobby: 10,000 requests/month, 1 GB storage, 1 seat | Free plan · paid from $79/mo | 2,989 | 6,210 | MCP |