--- title: OpenRouter slug: openrouter url: "https://toolweight.com/options/openrouter" homepage: "https://openrouter.ai" categories: llm-apis last_verified: 2026-01-15 license: CC-BY-4.0 --- # OpenRouter > One OpenAI-shaped key in front of hundreds of models OpenRouter aggregates nearly every model in this category behind a single OpenAI-compatible endpoint, with automatic failover between upstream hosts, per-provider routing preferences and privacy filters that exclude hosts who train on prompts. You pay upstream rates plus a credit fee. It is the cheapest way to keep model choice a runtime decision instead of an architectural one. ## Identity | | | | --- | --- | | Name | OpenRouter | | Company | OpenRouter | | One-liner | One OpenAI-shaped key in front of hundreds of models | | Site | https://openrouter.ai | | Docs | https://openrouter.ai/docs | | Founded | 2023 | | Open source | No | | Brand | https://toolweight.com/vendors/OpenRouter | | Compared in | 1 | ## Where it is compared ### [LLM APIs](https://toolweight.com/compare/llm-apis) Ranked **#13 of 18** on default weights. | Field | Value | Confidence | Verified | Source | Note | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Flagship model | Whichever upstream model you route to (400+ available) | Vendor-claimed | 2026-01-15 | https://openrouter.ai/models | - | | Context window | - | Unknown | - | - | Per-model; the router exposes each upstream's window unchanged. | | Max output | - | Unknown | - | - | Per-model, passed through from the upstream. | | Image input | ◐ | Inferred | 2026-01-15 | - | Available on models that support it. | | Audio in/out | ◐ | Inferred | 2026-01-15 | - | - | | Open weights | ◐ | Inferred | 2026-01-15 | - | Routes to both open and closed models; publishes none. | | OpenAI-compat API | ● | Vendor-claimed | 2026-01-15 | https://openrouter.ai/docs/api-reference/overview | A single OpenAI-shaped endpoint in front of every upstream is the entire product. | | TTFT p50 | - | Unknown | - | - | OpenRouter publishes live per-model latency and throughput in its own console, better data than this column can hold. | | Output tok/s | - | Unknown | - | - | - | | $/M input | - | Unknown | - | - | Upstream list price passed through, plus a fee on credit purchases (around 5%). No inference markup. | | $/M output | - | Unknown | - | - | - | | $/M cache read | - | Unknown | - | - | - | | Batch discount | 0 % | Inferred | 2026-01-15 | - | No batch endpoint, a real cost if half your workload could tolerate async. | | Tool use | ● | Inferred | 2026-01-15 | - | Passed through where the upstream supports it. | | Schema output | ◐ | Inferred | 2026-01-15 | - | - | | Effort control | ◐ | Inferred | 2026-01-15 | - | A normalised reasoning parameter is mapped onto each upstream's equivalent where one exists. | | Computer use | ○ | Inferred | 2026-01-15 | - | - | | MCP support | ○ | Inferred | 2026-01-15 | - | - | | Cache TTL | Passed through where the upstream supports caching | Inferred | 2026-01-15 | - | - | | Continuity policy | Structurally the best hedge on this page and formally the weakest promise. OpenRouter guarantees nothing itself, a closed model vanishes the moment its lab retires it. But for open-weight models the same ID stays routable because several independent hosts serve it, and automatic failover means a single host going dark is invisible to your application. Buy it as insurance against host failure, not against model retirement. | Inferred | 2026-01-15 | - | - | | Notice period | - | Unknown | - | - | Inherits each upstream's policy; OpenRouter publishes none of its own. | | Pinnable versions | ◐ | Inferred | 2026-01-15 | - | Model IDs are stable but resolve to whichever upstream host is available, so serving behaviour can vary between identical requests. | | Zero retention | ◐ | Inferred | 2026-01-15 | - | Logging is off by default at the router and provider policies can be filtered so requests never reach a host that trains on prompts, but the router cannot make a promise on behalf of an upstream's abuse-monitoring logs, which is the bar this column sets. Regraded down from yes: you are buying a filter over other people's retention terms, not zero retention. | | Trains on your data | ○ | Inferred | 2026-01-15 | - | - | | AU region | ○ | Inferred | 2026-01-15 | - | - | | API since | 2023 | Inferred | - | - | - | | Positioning | One key, one API shape, every model worth calling | Inferred | - | - | - | **Verdict.** The highest-leverage integration in the category: one endpoint, hundreds of models, automatic failover, and privacy filters that let you exclude hosts who train on prompts. The trade is that you get the intersection of upstream features, not the union, no batch, no computer use, and caching only where it passes through. ## Alternatives - [Qwen](https://toolweight.com/options/alibaba-qwen), Alibaba's model family, huge open-weight range, closed flagship - [Amazon Bedrock](https://toolweight.com/options/amazon-bedrock), Multi-vendor model access inside your existing AWS account - [Anthropic](https://toolweight.com/options/anthropic), Claude models, built around long agentic runs and tool use - [Cerebras](https://toolweight.com/options/cerebras), Wafer-scale inference, the fastest tokens per second available - [Cohere](https://toolweight.com/options/cohere), Enterprise-focused models built for RAG and private deployment - [DeepSeek](https://toolweight.com/options/deepseek), Frontier-adjacent models at a small fraction of Western prices - [Fireworks AI](https://toolweight.com/options/fireworks-ai), Fast open-weight inference with strong structured-output support - [Google Gemini](https://toolweight.com/options/google-gemini), Gemini via AI Studio for prototyping or Vertex AI for production - [Groq](https://toolweight.com/options/groq), Custom LPU silicon serving open-weight models at extreme speed - [Meta Llama](https://toolweight.com/options/meta-llama), Open-weight Llama models, hosted almost everywhere but Meta - [Mistral AI](https://toolweight.com/options/mistral-ai), European lab with an open-weight lineage and EU-resident hosting - [Moonshot AI](https://toolweight.com/options/moonshot-ai), Kimi models, open-weight agentic performance at low cost ## Licence and attribution Data from toolweight (https://toolweight.com), licensed CC-BY-4.0. - Licence: [CC-BY-4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) - Canonical HTML: https://toolweight.com/options/openrouter - Machine-readable: https://toolweight.com/options/openrouter.md · https://toolweight.com/api/v1 · https://toolweight.com/mcp - toolweight takes no affiliate revenue and sells no placements. Corrections: https://toolweight.com/suggest