OpenRouter pricing

One API for hundreds of AI models from many providers. Model prices match the provider. OpenRouter charges a fee when you buy credits.

Every plan below was checked against OpenRouter's own pages on 19 October 2026. Prices in USD.

Plans

At the limit: Stops at the limit
Limits: AI requests: 50 requests a dayFree models only
AI requests: 20 requests a minuteFree models only

Only the 25+ free models from 4 free providers can be used, capped at 20 requests a minute and 50 a day (per OpenRouter's limits docs: https://openrouter.ai/docs/api_reference/limits). Requests over the cap are rejected with a 429 error until the window resets.
Buying at least $10 of credits (all time) raises the free-model cap to 1,000 requests a day. The 20 a minute cap stays.
OpenRouter's FAQ says free models are usually not suitable for production use.
Each model provider has its own data policy and some may train on your prompts. OpenRouter lets you block those providers in account settings, with separate settings for free and paid models (https://openrouter.ai/docs/guides/privacy/provider-logging).
Failed attempts count towards the daily cap, and a negative balance blocks free models.
BYOK (bring your own provider key) is not available on Free.

Source: openrouter.ai · checked 19 October 2026

Pay as you go

No markup on model prices. OpenRouter's 5.5% fee is charged when you buy credits, never on individual requests. Its FAQ lists a $0.80 minimum fee per card purchase, which this estimate ignores.
No monthly minimum and no lock-in. Crypto payments carry a different fee.
With BYOK, the first $25,000 a month of list-price inference has no OpenRouter fee. After that OpenRouter charges 5% of the list price, deducted from your credits.
Credits expire one year after purchase.

Source: openrouter.ai · checked 19 October 2026

Pay as you go

Same model prices as Standard but with an 8% credit purchase fee. It adds advanced notifications, EU and US in-region routing, workload identity federation and up to 1,000 workspaces.
No contract and no minimum spend. You can downgrade 30 days after upgrading.
With BYOK, the first $25,000 a month of list-price inference has no OpenRouter fee, then 5% of list price.

Source: openrouter.ai · checked 19 October 2026