AI models

OpenRouter vs OpenAI vs Anthropic

OpenRouter, OpenAI, Anthropic side by side: price, free tier, who each one fits and when to skip it.

Item	OpenRouter	OpenAI	Anthropic
What it does	One OpenAI-compatible API and one bill for 500+ models from 80+ providers.	API for the GPT models, plus image, voice, transcription and embeddings in one account.	API for the Claude models, strong at writing, code, long documents and agents that use tools.
Best for	A SaaS that wants to switch between Claude, GPT and Gemini by changing one string, with a single credit balance.	A SaaS that needs text, voice transcription and image generation from a single provider and SDK.	A SaaS whose core feature is an agent or assistant that reads long contracts or spreadsheets and calls your own tools.
Skip it if	You run high volume on a single model, where the 5.5% fee on top of the provider price adds up.	You want to try it with no upfront cost, since the GPT models have no free tier and you pay in dollars from the first call.	You want to test with real users before spending anything, since the API has no free tier and bills in dollars.
Setup	Needs a developer. About an hour if your app already calls OpenAI; an afternoon from scratch.	Needs a developer. An afternoon for the first answer; some newer models may ask for organization verification first, which can add days.	Needs a developer. An afternoon for the first answer in your app; no approval needed, just a card and credits.
Price	Provider price plus a 5.5% platform fee	gpt-6.1-sol: $2 input / $10 output per million tokens	Sonnet 5.5: $2 input / $10 output per million tokens
What it costs in practice	Estimate: 1,000 users × 30 chats a month × about 2,000 tokens per chat (1,500 in, 500 out) = 45M input and 15M output tokens. On Claude Sonnet 5.5 at Anthropic's list price ($2 / $10 per million) that's about $240 in usage, plus 5.5% on the credits you buy: about $253/month. On a cheap model like gpt-6-luna it's about $12 + fee ≈ $13.	Estimate: 1,000 users × 30 chats a month × about 2,000 tokens per chat (1,500 in, 500 out) = 45M input and 15M output tokens. On gpt-6.1-sol ($2 in / $10 out per million): 45 × $2 + 15 × $10 ≈ $240/month, which already needs the Build tier's $500 cap. On gpt-6-luna ($0.10 / $0.50) it's about $12/month.	Estimate: 1,000 users × 30 chats a month × about 2,000 tokens per chat (1,500 in, 500 out) = 45M input and 15M output tokens. On Sonnet 5.5 ($2 in / $10 out per million): 45 × $2 + 15 × $10 ≈ $240/month, under the Start tier's $500 cap. The same volume on Haiku 5.5 ($0.10 / $0.50) is about $12/month.
Free plan	25+ free models, 50 requests a day (1,000 after buying $10 in credits).	No free tier for GPT models; only the moderation model is free.	No free API tier; you pay for usage in dollars.
Price per million tokens (main model)	Same as the provider + 5.5% fee	gpt-6.1-sol: $2 in / $10 out	Sonnet 5.5: $2 in / $10 out
Models	500+ models, 80+ providers	GPT-6 family, image, voice, embeddings	Claude Fable, Opus, Sonnet, Haiku
Free tier	50 requests/day on free models	No free tier	No free tier
Open source	No: no	No: no	No: no
Before you build	The 5.5% fee is charged when you buy credits and is non-refundable. You can only refund unused credits within 24 hours of the purchase, and crypto payments never. OpenRouter reserves the right to expire unused credits one year after purchase. By default, the same open model can be served by different providers, picked mostly by price, and providers may run it at different precision (quantization). Answers can vary between calls unless you pin providers. Routing allows providers that collect data by default. If you handle customer data, set data_collection to "deny" so only providers that don't keep it are used. Free models are capped at 20 requests a minute and 50 a day (1,000 after $10 in credits). Failed attempts count, and a negative balance blocks them.	Your monthly spend is capped by tier: $500 on Build ($5 purchased), $5,000 on Launch ($100 purchased). Tiers rise only with total credit purchases, so a launch spike can hit the ceiling. Purchased credits expire after one year, OpenAI can't extend the date, and unused credits are generally non-refundable. Some models and features only unlock after verifying your organization (business documents or a government ID and selfie). Check before building around a specific model. Models are shut down on a schedule: at least 6 months' notice for generally available models, about 2 weeks for previews. GPT-5.1 shuts down on April 1, 2027. Prompts over 272K input tokens cost more: on gpt-6.1-sol, input goes from $2 to $4 per million and output from $10 to $15.	Each usage tier has a monthly spend cap ($500 on Start, $1,000 on Build). Hit it and the API stops answering until the 1st of next month, unless you request a higher tier. New accounts may start on an Evaluation tier with even lower limits. Prepaid credits expire one year after purchase, the date can't be extended, and purchases are non-refundable. Don't top up a year's budget at once. Models get retired, with at least 60 days' notice. After that, calls to the old model name fail. Claude Sonnet 4.5, for example, retires on November 30, 2026. Prices and credits are in US dollars, so if you charge your customers in euros or pounds, your cost moves with the exchange rate.
Price checked	Checked on Oct 28, 2026 · official pricing	Checked on Oct 28, 2026 · official pricing	Checked on Oct 28, 2026 · official pricing

Prices are read from each official pricing page on the date shown and can change. Always confirm before signing up.

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