Classifiers: Track What Your Agents Do and What It Costs
Define a taxonomy and a small model tags every generation in your workspace by department, task type, or agent complexity. Filter your logs and group your Activity analytics by the results.
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Transcription on OpenRouter
Send base64 audio to POST /api/v1/audio/transcriptions and get JSON text plus a usage object back, with the same API key you already use for chat. Here's the full request contract, the model families, and the limits to design around.
The Cheapest Token Is a Cached One: Prompt Caching + Sticky Routing
Your agent sends the same system prompt, tool definitions, and schemas on every turn. Cache reads cost 0.1x to 0.5x of fresh input, but only if the next request lands on the provider holding the warm cache. Here's how caching and sticky routing work together, and how to confirm they're working.
Every Modality Through One API
Chat, image generation, embeddings, and transcription usually mean four SDKs, four bills, and four auth schemes. On OpenRouter every modality runs through one base URL: you change the model string and the content type, and the same routing controls carry across.
A New Look for OpenRouter
Built from first principles and grounded in timeless Bauhaus philosophy, our new brand identity marks the beginning of our next chapter.
Why Use OpenRouter for DeepSeek
DeepSeek is one model served by 16 providers, at prices that vary by about 4x and throughput from 4 to 57 tokens per second. Here's what routing that spread through one slug actually buys you, and when going direct is the better call.
Choosing the Optimal Image Input Detail Level in LLMs
We ran 1,730 visual reasoning questions across 5 models. Dropping image detail to "low" costs real accuracy, and on gpt-5.5 the bill went up too. The lever that reliably cuts cost is reasoning effort.
DeepSeek V4 Is Earning Agentic Token Share
DeepSeek doubled its token share on OpenRouter in six months. V4 Flash is the model that made it happen, and agentic workloads are driving the surge.
The Open Weight Models that Matter: June 2026
A slew of compelling open-weight models have shipped from new players in both China and the US. As of June 2026, these are the four open-weight models that matter the most — and when to reach for each.
The OpenRouter MCP Server
Connect your coding agent to OpenRouter's live model catalog, benchmarks, docs, and test inference, all without leaving your editor.
Introducing the Unified Image API
A dedicated Image API with capability discovery across 30+ models from 8 providers. One endpoint tells your code what each model can do.
AI Governance Checklist: Your LLM Architecture Comes First
Policy language can't show who called which model or where the audit trail lives. Map your governance checklist to the three routing postures your stack can actually prove.
How to Enforce AI Data Residency Without Building Local Infrastructure
If your procurement team flagged country of origin, you don't need to build local infrastructure. For API teams, data residency is a routing constraint you enforce in a single request.
OpenRouter vs Portkey: Which LLM Gateway for Your Team?
OpenRouter routes across providers on credits you buy; Portkey governs the provider keys you already have. Here's how they compare on models, observability, compliance, and price.
OpenRouter vs LiteLLM: Which LLM Gateway Fits Your Stack?
OpenRouter is a managed gateway; LiteLLM is a self-hosted proxy. Here's how they compare on cost, data residency, routing, and latency.
Connect OpenClaw to OpenRouter
OpenClaw has built-in OpenRouter support. One command gives your agents one key, one bill, and automatic failover across 300+ models. Here's the setup and the fixes for the errors that trip people up.
How to Connect SillyTavern to OpenRouter (2026 Guide)
One OpenRouter key gives SillyTavern 300+ models in a single dropdown, many of them free to start. Here's the five-step connection, the roleplay models to try, and fixes for the errors users hit most.
Kilo Code + OpenRouter: Setup, Model Routing, and Free Models
Kilo Code is a bring-your-own-provider coding agent, so adding OpenRouter gives it one key for 300+ models, provider routing, and failover. Here's the three-step setup plus the kilo.json fields that control routing.
How to Use OpenAI Codex CLI with OpenRouter
Codex CLI supports custom OpenAI-compatible providers, so a small config.toml block routes it through OpenRouter. You get provider failover, usage tracking, and one key across every model, with no change to Codex itself.
How to Use Claude Code with OpenRouter
Route Claude Code through OpenRouter with three environment variables and no local proxy. You get provider failover, budget controls, and usage visibility on top of the same Anthropic models.