OpenRouter Alternative: Token pricing
OpenRouter alternative pricing is transparent and usage-based: you pay only for the tokens you consume. There are no monthly fees, no hidden markups, and prepaid credits never expire.
- $0.25per 1M input tokens
- $1.00Output tokens / 1M
- 64,000token context
- $0.50trial credit
- 300requests per minute
No subscription. Prepaid credit never expires.
Cost calculator
Worked examples
Context-heavy document analysis
A 40,000-token prompt generates a 2,000-token summary. Input: (40,000 / 1,000,000) * $0.25 = $0.01. Output: (2,000 / 1,000,000) * $1.00 = $0.002. Total: $0.012.
Standard chat interaction
A 1,000-token prompt generates a 500-token response. Input: (1,000 / 1,000,000) * $0.25 = $0.00025. Output: (500 / 1,000,000) * $1.00 = $0.0005. Total: $0.00075.
High-volume coding assistant
A 10,000-token prompt generates a 5,000-token code block. Input: (10,000 / 1,000,000) * $0.25 = $0.0025. Output: (5,000 / 1,000,000) * $1.00 = $0.005. Total: $0.0075.
Pay-As-You-Go Rates
Our llm api charges strictly based on consumption. Input tokens cost $0.25 per million, while output tokens are priced at $1.00 per million. This structure reflects the higher computational cost of inference compared to simple token processing. You only pay for what your application actually uses, making it easy to forecast costs for variable workloads without guessing usage patterns.
No Monthly Fees
Unlike services that require a recurring subscription or minimum monthly spend, this serverless llm operates on a pure pay-per-use model. There are no base fees for maintaining your account or keeping your API key active. If you stop using the API, your bill is zero. This eliminates the risk of paying for idle capacity when your application is in low-traffic periods or during development phases.
Bonus Credit Tiers
We reward larger upfront deposits with bonus credit that applies to your usage. Loading $50 or more adds a 5% bonus, while loading $100 or more adds a 10% bonus. These bonuses are added to your prepaid balance and expire only when the underlying paid credit is exhausted, ensuring your effective cost per token drops as you scale your spending.
Prepaid Credits
Prepaid credits provide predictable spending limits. Since you must load funds before making requests, your usage can never exceed what you have loaded. Credits never expire, so you can top up as needed. New accounts receive $0.50 in trial credit for seven days to test the ai models api without a credit card, allowing you to verify compatibility before committing funds.
Included with every key
No tiers: every key gets the full feature set and the same limits.
| Parameter | Details |
|---|---|
| Function calling | Supported: tools + tool_choice, tool_calls in the reply (streamed too), tool results as role: tool messages |
| Max context | 64,000 tokens (prompt + completion together) |
| Completion length | up to 16,000 tokens per request (default 2,048) |
| JSON mode | JSON object mode via response_format json_object |
| Requests per minute | 300 requests per minute per key |
| Concurrency | up to 8 in parallel per key |
| Credit expiry | paid credit never expires, no subscription |
| Free trial | $0.50 of credit valid 7 days, no card needed |
| Token prices | input $0.25 / 1M tokens, output $1.00 / 1M tokens |
| Top-up | USDT (TRC20) or USDC (Base), any whole amount from $10 to $500 |
| Volume bonus | +5% on $50+, +10% on $100+ |
Questions and answers
Do prepaid credits expire?
No. The paid credit you load into your account never expires, regardless of how long you wait to use it. Bonus credits are applied to your balance and are consumed alongside your paid credit; they do not have a separate expiration date.
How does the trial credit work?
Every new account receives $0.50 in trial credit valid for 7 days. No credit card is required to start. The trial credit is used first for requests, and any remaining balance after the trial expires is lost.
Are there any hidden fees for API key management?
There are no fees for generating, regenerating, or managing your API key. You can regenerate your key at any time from your dashboard without any additional cost or downtime to your billed usage.
What happens if I run out of credits mid-request?
If your balance drops to zero or below your request cost during a stream, the stream will complete for the current request but no new requests will be processed until you add more funds. Your base URL remains active.
Your key is one form away
Create an account, copy the key, change the base URL. That is the whole setup.
