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Rank #2 of 7 in Model Gateways & Routers

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OpenRouter

OpenRouter, Inc. · commercial

npm 2M/wknpm/wk -489.1k

Showcase

OpenRouter homepage screenshot
homepage · captured Sep 2026 · view live ↗
OpenRouter docs screenshot
docs · captured Sep 2026 · view live ↗

Verified integrations

Connections to other tracked products — hover a chip for the verbatim evidence quote behind it.

By theme — the product's score on each story themeBy theme

Agenticness — how well agents can access and operate the productAgenticnessevidence →

How well agents can access and operate the product

46.4/100

Automation depth — how much of the product can run unattendedAutomation depthevidence →

How much of the product can run unattended

0.0/100

Caching performance — stories about caching performance in this arenaCaching performanceevidence →

Stories about caching performance in this arena

50.0/100

Cost controls — stories about cost controls in this arenaCost controlsevidence →

Stories about cost controls in this arena

47.0/100

Key management — stories about key management in this arenaKey managementevidence →

Stories about key management in this arena

66.0/100

Observability — seeing what the system is doing — logs, metrics, traces, alertsObservabilityevidence →

Seeing what the system is doing — logs, metrics, traces, alerts

0.0/100

Openness — open source, data portability, and self-hosting storiesOpennessevidence →

Open source, data portability, and self-hosting stories

10.3/100

Privacy posture — data-handling and privacy storiesPrivacy postureevidence →

Data-handling and privacy stories

32.0/100

Routing resilience — stories about routing resilience in this arenaRouting resilienceevidence →

Stories about routing resilience in this arena

66.2/100

Streaming tools — stories about streaming tools in this arenaStreaming toolsevidence →

Stories about streaming tools in this arena

68.6/100

Unified api — stories about unified api in this arenaUnified apievidence →

Stories about unified api in this arena

90.0/100

Story verdicts — every judged story with its evidenceStory verdicts

What’s free: 4 free · 1 paid · 1 enterprise · 26 not stated in evidence

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Sorted by importance (agentic first) (high → low) · 50/50 stories · click a row’s chevron for the rationale and evidence

Drive the product through a documented public API G

Agent access

ai-native userAgenticness — how well agents can access and operate the productAgenticness3full10/10T

Connect an agent via an official MCP server G

Agent access

ai-native userAgenticness — how well agents can access and operate the productAgenticness3full8/10T

Plug MCP servers into this product so it can use their tools G

Agent access

ai-native userAgenticness — how well agents can access and operate the productAgenticness3none0/10

Delegate tasks to a built-in AI assistant inside the product G

Agentic features

ai-native userAgenticness — how well agents can access and operate the productAgenticness3n/auntestednone yet

Download a machine-readable API spec (OpenAPI or equivalent) G

Api quality

ai-native userAgenticness — how well agents can access and operate the productAgenticness2fullfree9/10T

Point an agent at llms.txt or agent-oriented docs G

Agent access

ai-native userAgenticness — how well agents can access and operate the productAgenticness2fullfree9/10T

Explore an interactive API reference with runnable examples G

Api quality

ai-native userAgenticness — how well agents can access and operate the productAgenticness2fullfree8/10T

Issue scoped/least-privilege API credentials for an agent G

Agent access

ai-native userAgenticness — how well agents can access and operate the productAgenticness2partial7/10X

Run the product headlessly / in CI for automation G

Agent access

ai-native userAgenticness — how well agents can access and operate the productAgenticness2full7/10T

Build against official SDKs G

Agent access

ai-native userAgenticness — how well agents can access and operate the productAgenticness2partial5/10T

Operate the product with natural-language commands G

Agentic features

ai-native userAgenticness — how well agents can access and operate the productAgenticness2partial4/10T

Get AI-generated insights and suggestions from my data inside the product G

Agentic features

ai-native userAgenticness — how well agents can access and operate the productAgenticness2n/auntestednone yet

Rely on versioned APIs with a documented deprecation policy G

Api quality

ai-native userAgenticness — how well agents can access and operate the productAgenticness2noneuntestednone yet

Set up automations that run autonomously in the background G

Agentic features

ai-native userAgenticness — how well agents can access and operate the productAgenticness2n/auntestednone yet

Subscribe to events via webhooks G

Agent access

ai-native userAgenticness — how well agents can access and operate the productAgenticness2noneuntestednone yet

Use an official CLI G

Agent access

ai-native userAgenticness — how well agents can access and operate the productAgenticness2noneuntestednone yet

Test against a sandbox environment without touching production data G

Api quality

ai-native userAgenticness — how well agents can access and operate the productAgenticness1noneuntestednone yet

Call many model providers through one consistent API C

One endpoint

developerUnified api — stories about unified api in this arenaUnified api3fullpaid9/10T

Configure automatic fallback to another model or provider when one fails C

Fallbacks

platform engineerRouting resilience — stories about routing resilience in this arenaRouting resilience3full9/10X

Point existing OpenAI-compatible code at the gateway by changing only the base URL and key C

Compatibility

developerUnified api — stories about unified api in this arenaUnified api3full9/10T

Make tool and function calls across different providers with a consistent schema C

Tool calling

developerStreaming tools — stories about streaming tools in this arenaStreaming tools3full8/10X

Mint gateway-managed keys for teams and apps without exposing raw provider keys C

Virtual keys

platform engineerKey management — stories about key management in this arenaKey management3full8/10X

My agent can switch models mid-task by policy — cost, capability, or availability — through gateway routing rules C

Policy routing

ai-native userRouting resilience — stories about routing resilience in this arenaRouting resilience3full8/10X

Stream token-by-token responses through the gateway from any provider C

Streaming

developerStreaming tools — stories about streaming tools in this arenaStreaming tools3full8/10X

Prevent my data from being used to train AI models G

ai-native userPrivacy posture — data-handling and privacy storiesPrivacy posture3partial6/10X

Provision gateways, keys, and budgets programmatically through an admin API C

Programmatic admin

ai-native userKey management — stories about key management in this arenaKey management3partial6/10X

Set hard budgets and spend limits per key, team, or user C

Budgets

platform engineerCost controls — stories about cost controls in this arenaCost controls3partial6/10X

Track spend per model, key, team, or user across all providers in one place C

Spend tracking

platform engineerCost controls — stories about cost controls in this arenaCost controls3partial6/10X

Define rules that trigger actions automatically on events G

ai-native userAutomation depth — how much of the product can run unattendedAutomation depth3noneuntestednone yet

Export all of my data in open formats and leave G

ai-native userOpenness — open source, data portability, and self-hosting storiesOpenness3noneuntestednone yet

Inspect logged requests and responses with latency, token counts, and cost attached C

Logs

platform engineerObservability — seeing what the system is doing — logs, metrics, traces, alertsObservability3noneuntestednone yet

Self-host the core product G

ai-native userOpenness — open source, data portability, and self-hosting storiesOpenness3n/auntestednone yet

Bring my own provider API keys and have the gateway use them for my traffic G

Byok

developerKey management — stories about key management in this arenaKey management2full9/10X

Browse or query a catalog of available models with pricing and context-window metadata G

Catalog

developerUnified api — stories about unified api in this arenaUnified api2fullfree9/10T

Give an autonomous agent its own key with budget and rate guardrails so it cannot run away on spend C

Agent guardrails

ai-native userCost controls — stories about cost controls in this arenaCost controls2full8/10X

Cache responses at the gateway to cut cost and latency on repeated requests C

Caching

developerCaching performance — stories about caching performance in this arenaCaching performance2full7/10C

Load-balance traffic across providers, deployments, or keys by weight, latency, or cost C

Load balancing

platform engineerRouting resilience — stories about routing resilience in this arenaRouting resilience2full7/10X

Set automatic retry policies for transient provider errors C

Retries

platform engineerRouting resilience — stories about routing resilience in this arenaRouting resilience2partial7/10X

Choose where my data is stored (region/residency) G

ai-native userPrivacy posture — data-handling and privacy storiesPrivacy posture2partialenterprise6/10X

Do everything through the API that I can do in the UI G

ai-native userOpenness — open source, data portability, and self-hosting storiesOpenness2partial6/10T

Control data retention and deletion G

ai-native userPrivacy posture — data-handling and privacy storiesPrivacy posture2partial5/10X

Run traffic through gateway infrastructure that adds minimal latency overhead to provider calls C

Latency

platform engineerCaching performance — stories about caching performance in this arenaCaching performance2partial5/10X

Smooth provider rate limits by spreading traffic across keys and queuing or throttling requests C

Rate limits

platform engineerRouting resilience — stories about routing resilience in this arenaRouting resilience2partial5/10X

Opt out of telemetry and usage tracking G

ai-native userPrivacy posture — data-handling and privacy storiesPrivacy posture2partial4/10X

Perform bulk operations across many items at once G

ai-native userAutomation depth — how much of the product can run unattendedAutomation depth2noneuntestednone yet

Read the product's source under an open license G

ai-native userOpenness — open source, data portability, and self-hosting storiesOpenness2noneuntestednone yet

Schedule recurring jobs or workflows G

ai-native userAutomation depth — how much of the product can run unattendedAutomation depth2n/auntestednone yet

Export gateway logs and traces to my own observability stack G

Integrations

developerObservability — seeing what the system is doing — logs, metrics, traces, alertsObservability1noneuntestednone yet

Request structured JSON-schema outputs across providers C

Tool calling

developerStreaming tools — stories about streaming tools in this arenaStreaming tools1noneuntestednone yet

Version, review, and roll back my automations G

ai-native userAutomation depth — how much of the product can run unattendedAutomation depth1n/auntestednone yet

Opportunities — the stories that would move this product's scores, from its own judged verdictsOpportunitiestop 8 of 26 stories with headroom

What would move OpenRouter’s scores — derived from its own judged verdicts, biggest headroom first. Each line quotes what the judge found missing; shipping it (or evidencing it publicly) is the fix.

  1. Agenticness — how well agents can access and operate the productPlug MCP servers into this product so it can use their tools

    nonemoves agent-readyimpact 45

    Evidence only shows OpenRouter publishing its own MCP server so external AI tools/editors can pull OpenRouter data (docs-14, docs-26, docs-34, probe-3) — this is OpenRouter acting as an MCP server for other clients, not OpenRouter itself consuming/plugging in external MCP servers to gain their tools.

  2. Automation depth — how much of the product can run unattendedDefine rules that trigger actions automatically on events

    nonemoves PA Scoreimpact 30

    OpenRouter is an LLM routing/API gateway; nothing in the evidence describes user-defined event-driven rules or triggers (e.g., webhooks, if-this-then-that automations) that fire actions automatically.

  3. Openness — open source, data portability, and self-hosting storiesExport all of my data in open formats and leave

    nonemoves PA Scoreimpact 30

    The evidence pack covers API routing, model access, MCP server, and billing features, but contains no mention of any user data export capability (usage logs, account data, chat history) in open formats or account portability/closure process — the axis is applicable to a SaaS platform storing usage/billing data, but no supporting evidence exists.

  4. Observability — seeing what the system is doing — logs, metrics, traces, alertsInspect logged requests and responses with latency, token counts, and cost attached

    nonemoves PA Scoreimpact 30

    Missing: activity/logs dashboard documentation, per-request latency metrics, per-request token count and cost attribution evidence.

  5. Agenticness — how well agents can access and operate the productUse an official CLI

    nonemoves agent-readyimpact 30

    OpenRouter is an API/model-routing platform for which an official CLI would be a plausible ecosystem tool, but the evidence pack contains no mention of any official OpenRouter CLI — only SDK compatibility, REST API, MCP server, and web UI are documented.

  6. Agenticness — how well agents can access and operate the productSubscribe to events via webhooks

    nonemoves agent-readyimpact 30

    No evidence in the pack mentions webhooks or event subscription mechanisms of any kind for OpenRouter; the documented features (routing, caching, key management, MCP server) do not include webhook support.

  7. Agenticness — how well agents can access and operate the productRely on versioned APIs with a documented deprecation policy

    nonemoves API qualityimpact 30

    The evidence pack covers routing, fallbacks, caching, BYOK, key management, and privacy settings, but nowhere documents API versioning (e.g., v1/v2 endpoints) or a formal deprecation policy/timeline for endpoints or models.

  8. Automation depth — how much of the product can run unattendedPerform bulk operations across many items at once

    nonemoves PA Scoreimpact 20

    Missing: batch API or bulk job submission endpoint, evidence of processing many items in a single call, bulk data/export operations.

Showing the top 8 of 26 — every none/partial verdict in the story verdicts table is headroom.

Think a verdict is wrong? Every verdicts-table row has a Flag link — see the methodology.

Coverage map — which docs area, API section, or community source covers which judged storiesCoverage map6 surfaces · 32 covered stories

Where the cited evidence behind each covered verdict came from — the same citations the verdicts table shows, no extra judging.

docs32 stories

Hacker News24 stories

Claims vs evidence — vendor claims reconciled against independent verdictsClaims vs evidence

14 of 15 testable claims verified · 0 contradictedintegrity 93/100

19 distinct capability claims found in OpenRouter’s own claimed-docs/GitHub materials, reconciled against our judge’s independent verdicts.

14

Verified

1

Unverified

0

Contradicted

17

Undersold

Verified (15)
Unverified (2)
Undersold (17)
Claims outside our story set (2)

Real capability claims found in OpenRouter’s own materials, but no story in this arena’s taxonomy covers them yet — that’s feedback on the taxonomy, not a mark against the product.

  • A 'latest' model alias automatically resolves to the newest flagship model without code changes

    source ↗
  • Individual requests or account-wide settings can restrict which providers' data policies are allowed

    source ↗
Suggest a story for these →

Pricing signals

  • 5.5%gateway feepay-as-you-goPay-as-you-go platform fee applied on top of model inference pricingsource ↗as of 2026-09-07
  • 0%gateway feefree tierFree tier: 25+ free models, 4 free providers, limited to 50 requests/day, free models onlysource ↗as of 2026-09-07
  • 5%gateway feepay-as-you-goEnterprise: no platform fee up to $200,000/month of list price inference, 5% fee thereaftersource ↗as of 2026-09-07

Extracted verbatim from the vendor’s own pricing page — hover a figure for the exact quote.

Business model

usage-basedcreditsenterprise-custom

Pay-as-you-go: buy credits and pay provider list price per token plus a small platform fee on credit purchases; enterprise plans are custom.

pricing ↗

Score trend

How this product’s scores have moved as evidence and verdicts are re-derived — a point per change, not per day.

PA Score26 (Sep 4 '26)30 (Sep 4 '26)
Agent-ready46 (Sep 4 '26)48 (Sep 4 '26)

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Think a verdict is wrong? Opens a prefilled GitHub issue — or use the ⚑ next to any verdict above.

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For agents

Data

Agent surface uptime llms.txt 100% · openapi.json 100% (30d, checked every 6h since Sep 8 '26)