COMPARE · OPENROUTER AND 5 ALTERNATIVES
OpenRouter alternatives
SHORT ANSWER
The cheapest OpenRouter alternative for Claude, GPT, Gemini and Grok is Straitly, 40% below list with no fee: $1,000 of list-price usage costs $600.00, against $1,055.00 on OpenRouter. The others are Requesty, LiteLLM, Portkey and direct APIs.
Last updated . Every number links to its source.
CLAUDE, GPT, GEMINI AND GROK ON STRAITLY
Median price below list, and model IDs cheaper than the cheapest OpenRouter seller with its 5.5% fee [2].
Claude Anthropic
40% below list
17 of 17 cheaper than on OpenRouter
GPT OpenAI
40% below list
24 of 25 cheaper than on OpenRouter
Gemini Google
40% below list
15 of 16 cheaper than on OpenRouter
Grok xAI
40% below list
6 of 6 cheaper than on OpenRouter
Snapshot of 9 November 2026 [2].
SIDE BY SIDE
How do the OpenRouter alternatives compare?
OpenRouter and Requesty add a fee to list price; Straitly bills below it.
“5.5% ($0.80 minimum)”
OpenRouter on its card credit fee, openrouter.ai/docs/faq [6]
“A model that costs $10 per 1M tokens from OpenAI costs $10.50 through Requesty.”
Requesty on its 5% markup, requesty.ai/pricing [7]
“Not suitable for production workloads.”
Portkey on its free plan, portkey.ai/pricing [11]
COMPARE STRAITLY WITH
| Row | STRAITLY | OPENROUTER | REQUESTY | LITELLM | PORTKEY | DIRECT APIS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| What it is[1][5][7][9][11] | Hosted, OpenAI-compatible API priced below list | Hosted router and model marketplace | Hosted router with spend limits | Open-source gateway you run yourself | Gateway with logs, guardrails and prompt management | Each lab's own API |
| Token price[1][2][5][7] | 40% below the provider's list price on most models | Provider's price: list for Claude, GPT and Gemini | Model cost from the provider | Providers bill you, on your keys | Providers bill you, on your keys | List price |
| Fee on top[5][7][9][11] | None | 5.5% on credit purchases (Standard), 8% (Business) | 5% markup on pay as you go | None. You pay for hosting | $49 a month Production plan, $9 per extra 100k logs | None |
| Models[3][5][7][9][12] | 66 models | 600+ models, 80+ providers | 600+ models, 30+ providers | 140+ provider integrations | 1,600+ models through the gateway | One lab's models per account |
| Free tier[1][5][7][9][11] | COMING SOONNot yet. Today, prepaid with no minimum | 25+ free models, 50 requests a day | Free models, 200 requests a day | Free gateway. Providers still bill you | Developer plan, 10k logs a month, not for production | Varies by provider |
| Bring your own keys[5][7][9][12] | COMING SOONNot yet. Today, one Straitly key and balance for every model | Yes. No fee up to $25,000 of list-price use a month, then 5% | Yes | Yes, it runs on your keys | Yes, it runs on your keys | Your own key |
| OpenAI-compatible[3][5][8][10][12] | Yes. The Anthropic SDK works too | Yes | Yes | Yes, OpenAI format | Yes, OpenAI-compatible client | Each provider's own API |
| Self-host[9][12] | Hosted only | Not stated | Not stated | Yes, MIT license | Yes, MIT-licensed gateway | Not applicable |
LITELLMShow all 8 rowsShow the first 6 rows
Model counts, free tiers, self-hosting and two quoted facts per product
Every cell is from that product's own pages, checked 9 November 2026. Straitly's model page lists 66 models [3]; its public catalog holds 164 model IDs, which is what the price counts on this page are taken from [2]. OpenRouter and Requesty each list 600+ models [5][7], so check the model list for a long-tail model. A free tier and bring-your-own-key are coming soon to Straitly. LiteLLM and Portkey can be self-hosted, and Portkey adds logs, guardrails and prompt management on your own provider keys [9][12].
OpenRouter
Requesty
5%
Markup on model cost, pay as you go
“A model that costs $10 per 1M tokens from OpenAI costs $10.50 through Requesty”
requesty.ai/pricing, 9 November 2026 [7]
LiteLLM
Portkey
$49
Production plan a month, 100k recorded logs, $9 per extra 100k
portkey.ai/pricing, 9 November 2026 [11]
1,600+
LLMs routable through the open-source gateway
github.com/Portkey-AI/gateway, 9 November 2026 [12]
MODEL BY MODEL
Is Straitly cheaper than OpenRouter?
Yes, on every Claude, Grok and closed GPT and Gemini model. The 12 exceptions are small open-weight models (Qwen, GLM, Gemma, DeepSeek, Kimi and gpt-oss); see Straitly vs OpenRouter for each model.
THE VERDICT
Which OpenRouter alternative should you pick?
Pick by the problem you have: Straitly for price, the others for breadth, self-hosting or logs.
Pick Straitly
Your bill is the problem, especially on Claude, GPT, Gemini or Grok. Zero data retention by default.
Pick OpenRouter
You need the widest catalog, free models, or bring-your-own-key routing.
Pick Requesty
You want a hosted router with spend limits, routing policies and EU data residency.
Pick LiteLLM
Traffic has to stay on your own infrastructure.
Pick Portkey
Logs, guardrails and prompt management matter more than token price.
Pick Direct APIs
You use one lab and want its newest features the day they ship.
AT YOUR SPEND
Which OpenRouter alternative is cheapest at my spend?
Straitly, at every level below. At $10,000 a month it saves $54,600.00 a year against OpenRouter.
- Straitly$6,000.00
- Direct provider APIs$10,000.00
- Requesty$10,500.00
- OpenRouter Standard$10,550.00
- OpenRouter Business$10,800.00
- LiteLLM (self-hosted)*$10,000.00
- Portkey Production$10,049.00
SAVED A YEAR VS THE NEXT CHEAPEST
$48,000.00
Portkey includes its $49 Production plan. * LiteLLM's servers are extra.
How each option bills, and the monthly bill at $100 to $50,000
| $1,000 OF USAGE ON | HOW IT BILLS | PLUS | TOKEN BILL |
|---|---|---|---|
| Straitly | 40% below list, no fee | None | $600.00 |
| Direct provider APIs | List price | One account and key per provider | $1,000.00 |
| Requesty | List price + 5% markup | None on pay as you go | $1,050.00 |
| OpenRouter Standard | List price + 5.5% credit fee | None | $1,055.00 |
| OpenRouter Business | List price + 8% credit fee | None | $1,080.00 |
| LiteLLM (self-hosted) | List price, paid to each provider | Your own servers and upkeep | $1,000.00 |
| Portkey Production | List price, paid to each provider | $49 a month plan | $1,000.00 |
Fees from each pricing page, checked 9 November 2026 [1][5][7][9][11].
Monthly token bill at four spend levels
| OPTION | $100 LIST | $1,000 LIST | $10,000 LIST | $50,000 LIST |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Straitly | $60.00 | $600.00 | $6,000.00 | $30,000.00 |
| Direct provider APIs | $100.00 | $1,000.00 | $10,000.00 | $50,000.00 |
| Requesty | $105.00 | $1,050.00 | $10,500.00 | $52,500.00 |
| OpenRouter Standard | $105.50 | $1,055.00 | $10,550.00 | $52,750.00 |
| OpenRouter Business | $108.00 | $1,080.00 | $10,800.00 | $54,000.00 |
| LiteLLM (self-hosted) | $100.00 | $1,000.00 | $10,000.00 | $50,000.00 |
| Portkey Production | $100.00 | $1,000.00 | $10,000.00 | $50,000.00 |
SWITCHING
How do I switch from OpenRouter?
from openai import OpenAI
client = OpenAI(
base_url="https://api.straitly.ai/v1",
api_key="YOUR_STRAITLY_API_KEY",
)FAQ
What else do people ask about OpenRouter alternatives?
What is the cheapest OpenRouter alternative?
For the models it serves, Straitly. It bills 40% below the provider's list price on most models with no fee, while OpenRouter adds 5.5% on credit purchases and Requesty adds a 5% markup (checked 9 November 2026). On $1,000 of list-price usage that is $600.00 on Straitly and $1,055.00 on OpenRouter Standard.
Is Straitly always cheaper than OpenRouter?
On almost every model, including all Claude and Grok models and every closed GPT and Gemini model. In the 9 November 2026 snapshot of Straitly's public catalog, Straitly was cheaper on 129 of the 141 model IDs that also have an OpenRouter seller. The cheapest OpenRouter seller was cheaper on 12, all small or low-cost open-weight models such as Qwen, GLM and Gemma. Per-model prices are on straitly.ai/models.
Do I have to change my code to switch?
Usually only the base URL and the API key. OpenRouter, Requesty, LiteLLM, Portkey and Straitly all accept requests in the OpenAI SDK format. For Straitly, set the base URL to https://api.straitly.ai/v1.
Does Straitly store my prompts?
No. Zero data retention is on by default for every Straitly account and key: prompts and completions are never written to disk or logs and never used for training. Only billing metadata (timestamp, model, key, token counts, latency, status and charge) is kept, as described on straitly.ai/docs/data-retention.
Requesty or OpenRouter: which costs less?
On fees alone, Requesty, by half a point: a 5% markup against OpenRouter's 5.5% credit fee. On $1,000 of list-price usage that is $1,050.00 against $1,055.00. Both list 600+ models; OpenRouter lists more providers (80+ against 30+).
More questions (3)
- Which OpenRouter alternative has the most models?
- Portkey's open-source gateway says it routes to 1,600+ models, OpenRouter and Requesty each list 600+, and LiteLLM lists 140+ provider integrations. Straitly serves 66 models, focused on Claude, GPT, Gemini, Grok and popular open-weight families.
- Is LiteLLM free?
- The LiteLLM gateway is MIT-licensed and free to self-host, according to litellm.ai. You still pay each model provider at its own price, plus whatever it costs you to run the gateway. An Enterprise tier with SSO, RBAC and support is priced on request.
- Can I bring my own provider keys to Straitly?
- Bring-your-own-key is coming soon to Straitly. Today Straitly supplies the model capacity and bills you per token from a prepaid balance, below list price on most models. If you need to route traffic through keys you already pay for right now, OpenRouter, Requesty, LiteLLM and Portkey all support that.
SOURCES
Sources
Quoted from each product's own pages on 9 November 2026. Spot an old price? Tell us at straitly.ai/contact.
- [1]
Straitly pricing (opens in a new tab)
straitly.ai/pricing · checked Back to text
- [2]
Straitly public catalog (opens in a new tab)
straitly.ai/api/catalog · checked Back to text
- [3]
Straitly quickstart (opens in a new tab)
straitly.ai/docs/quickstart · checked Back to text
- [4]
Straitly data retention (opens in a new tab)
straitly.ai/docs/data-retention · checked Back to text
- [5]
OpenRouter pricing (opens in a new tab)
openrouter.ai/pricing · checked Back to text
- [6]
OpenRouter FAQ (opens in a new tab)
openrouter.ai/docs/faq · checked Back to text
- [7]
Requesty pricing (opens in a new tab)
requesty.ai/pricing · checked Back to text
- [8]
Requesty quickstart (opens in a new tab)
docs.requesty.ai/quickstart · checked Back to text
- [9]
litellm.ai · checked Back to text
- [10]
LiteLLM docs (opens in a new tab)
docs.litellm.ai/docs · checked Back to text
- [11]
Portkey pricing (opens in a new tab)
portkey.ai/pricing · checked Back to text
- [12]
Portkey AI Gateway on GitHub (opens in a new tab)
github.com/Portkey-AI/gateway · checked Back to text
Run your own numbers.
Prepaid, no subscription, no minimum, no fee.