OpenRouter
OpenRouter is a unified API and marketplace that gives access to more than 500 AI models from over 80 providers through one OpenAI-compatible endpoint. It is made by OpenRouter, Inc. On 19 August 2026 the company announced it is joining Stripe, a deal that was subject to closing conditions at that time.
Facts checked on against the sources listed at the end of this page.
- Pricing
- Pay as you goPaid from Pay as you go with a 5.5% platform fee (Standard)
- Open source
- NoProprietary
A good fit for
- Apps that need to test or switch between many models without separate integrations
- Teams that want provider failover behind one endpoint
- Developers who want to try free models
- Products that need EU or US in-region routing on the Business plan
Not a good fit for
- Running models on your own hardware: it is a hosted router
- Avoiding platform fees: Standard and Business add a percentage on top of provider costs
- Teams that need an open source gateway: the service is proprietary
OpenRouter pricing
Free access covers 25+ free models. Standard and Business are pay as you go with a platform fee of 5.5% and 8%. Enterprise pricing is custom.
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 25+ free models from 4 providers. |
| Standard | Pay as you go, 5.5% platform fee | 500+ models across 80+ providers. |
| Business | Pay as you go, 8% platform fee | Adds regional routing (EU and US) and advanced notifications. |
| Enterprise | Custom pricing | SSO/SAML, contractual SLAs, dedicated support and fee discounts. |
Prices in USD, checked on 6 October 2026. Current prices on openrouter.ai.
Main features
- One API for many models
- 500+ models from 80+ providers behind a single endpoint.
- OpenAI-compatible
- Works with existing OpenAI-compatible clients.
- Automatic failover
- Requests move to another provider when one is down.
- Data policy controls
- Restrict prompts to models and providers you trust.
- Bring your own key
- Use your own provider keys; Standard and Business include $25,000 of list price inference a month with no fee, then 5%.
- Regional routing
- The Business plan adds EU and US in-region routing.
About OpenRouter
OpenRouter routes requests to many model providers through one API. The site lists 500+ models and 80+ providers covering text, images, video and audio, and the API works with OpenAI-compatible clients.
It adds automatic failover when a provider is down, and data policy controls that limit prompts to the models and providers you trust. Its homepage reports more than 10 million users.
On 19 August 2026 OpenRouter published "OpenRouter is Joining Stripe". The post said the transaction was subject to customary closing conditions and was expected to close in the coming weeks, and that the name, product and roadmap stay the same. Wikipedia describes the deal as finalized in August 2026 at over $7 billion; the company's own post is the source for the announcement.
- Made by
- OpenRouter, Inc.
- Launched
- 2023
- Based in
- New York City
- Free plan
- Yes: access to 25+ free models from 4 providers.
- Available on
- API, Web
OpenRouter alternatives
Questions about OpenRouter
Is Stripe acquiring OpenRouter?
OpenRouter announced on 19 August 2026 that it is joining Stripe. The post said the deal was subject to customary closing conditions and expected to close in the coming weeks. It said the name, product and roadmap stay the same.
Does OpenRouter have a free plan?
Yes. The Free plan includes 25+ free models from 4 providers.
How much does OpenRouter charge?
Standard has a 5.5% platform fee and Business 8%. Enterprise is custom.
How many models does OpenRouter offer?
The pricing page lists 500+ models across 80+ providers.
Is OpenRouter compatible with the OpenAI API?
Yes. Its API works with existing OpenAI-compatible implementations.
Sources and links
Work on OpenRouter? Claim this listing. Something wrong or out of date? Suggest a correction. Stats come from the public GitHub and npm APIs and update every day.