OpenRouter pricing in 2026
Freemium starting at Pay-per-use API. Page verified on May 1, 2026, updated monthly.
One API for 300+ models from every provider. Priced at market rate, not below.
Price evolution over 12 months
Monthly entry price reconstructed from Internet Archive (snapshots of the official pricing page). Shows whether OpenRouter has increased, decreased or stagnated over the past year.
The real cost in practice
The displayed entry price is almost never the real price for daily users. With a tool like OpenRouter, two classic traps blow the budget: quotas that run out fast and add-ons billed separately.
Joute rule of thumb: for daily professional use, budget 1.5 to 2x the displayed price. For OpenRouter that would put the real monthly bill around ?-? €/month over time.
If budget is tight, also look at
4 tools in the Chat & models category with a lower entry price than OpenRouter.
Everything about OpenRouter's pricing
How much does OpenRouter cost in 2026?
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OpenRouter is freemium, starting at Pay-per-use API. A limited free tier exists to test before paying. Pricing verified on the official pricing page on May 1, 2026.
Is there a free version of OpenRouter?
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Yes, OpenRouter offers a free tier with limitations (quota, capped features). The paid plan at Pay-per-use API removes those limits.
Is OpenRouter good value for money?
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Fair. Priced at market rate, not below. If you want cheaper for the same use case, we list lower-cost alternatives above.
Has OpenRouter's price changed recently?
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Page verified on May 1, 2026. If you're reading this more than 30 days later, open the official pricing page to confirm. AI publishers change their plans multiple times a year.
Pricing verified on May 1, 2026 on OpenRouter's official pricing page. USD→EUR conversion applied at monthly rate when necessary. Page updated automatically each month. method page.