OpenRouter

OpenRouter operates as a unified API abstraction layer, consolidating access to models from 80+ providers—including OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Meta, Mistral, Cohere, and others—into a single API endpoint. The platform processes over 200 trillion tokens monthly and serves 10 million global users. Rather than maintaining separate integrations with each provider, developers can write once and switch models by changing a parameter. The platform offers a credit-based system without subscriptions: users purchase credits valid across any model and provider. OpenRouter claims "better prices" compared to direct provider access by negotiating bulk terms and passing savings to users. The service claims distributed infrastructure ensures "better uptime" through failover mechanisms. OpenRouter supports diverse modalities—text, images, videos, and audio—and enables custom data policies controlling which models and providers receive specific requests. This is particularly valuable for organisations with data governance requirements or provider preferences. The platform includes enterprise features like organisational controls and custom routing rules. OpenRouter differentiates through flexibility: developers can mix-and-match models without rewriting application code, optimising for cost, latency, quality, or compliance across provider options.