OpenRouter

What OpenRouter is

OpenRouter is a router rather than a model vendor. One OpenAI-compatible API reaches a very large number of models from many providers, and it can route, degrade and balance requests so an application can switch models without rewriting integration code.

What you can do with it

• Call many providers through one key
• Switch models with minimal code change
• Configure fallbacks when a model is unavailable
• Run comparisons across models
• Balance load across providers

Who it is for

• Developers wanting provider flexibility
• Applications needing fallback capacity
• Teams comparing models at scale

What to watch out for

• An intermediary sees every prompt, so review its logging and retention commitments
• Each upstream provider's terms still apply, including data handling and what you may build
• Routing can silently change which model answered, so log the actual model used
• Model names and availability change often, which affects reproducibility