# An OpenRouter alternative below official prices > How OpenRouter charges for models, the fees it publishes, and when an API that sells Claude, GPT and Gemini below official prices costs less. Updated: 2026-11-01 OpenRouter bills tokens at each provider's list price and adds a fee when you buy credit. If you mostly use Claude, GPT and Gemini, an API that sells them below their official prices costs less per token. 5abeer is one: its price is about 70% below the official one, and it supports the OpenAI, Anthropic and Gemini formats. ## What is OpenRouter, and why look for an alternative? OpenRouter is a service that puts models from many providers behind one account and one API. In its own words, it "gives you access to hundreds of AI models through a single API endpoint", and you can point the OpenAI SDK at it as a drop-in replacement. Its quickstart also says it "handles fallbacks automatically" between providers. That breadth is the main reason people use it. The reasons people look elsewhere are usually narrower: - **Cost:** tokens cost the provider's list price, and on the Standard and Business plans buying credit adds a platform fee. - **Payment:** you pay by card, AliPay or USDC. - **Fewer providers:** many teams only call Claude, GPT and Gemini, and want those for less rather than hundreds of models. ## What does OpenRouter charge? OpenRouter publishes its fees on its pricing page and FAQ. These are the main ones, with the source and the date each was checked: OpenRouter fees as it publishes them | Service | Item | Value | Note | Source | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | OpenRouter | Inference (tokens) | The provider's list price, no markup | — | https://openrouter.ai/pricing | | OpenRouter | Credit purchase fee, Standard plan | 5.5% | — | https://openrouter.ai/pricing | | OpenRouter | Credit purchase fee, Business plan | 8% | — | https://openrouter.ai/pricing | | OpenRouter | Bring your own key, above the monthly allowance | 5% | The first $25,000 of list-price usage a month has no fee on Standard and Business. Above that, the fee is a share of what the same request would cost on OpenRouter. | https://openrouter.ai/docs/faq | | OpenRouter | Payment methods | Credit cards, AliPay and USDC crypto | — | https://openrouter.ai/docs/faq | Each row links to the page it comes from, checked October 31, 2026, November 1, 2026. These figures can change, so check the source before you buy. So on OpenRouter the price per token is the official one, and on the Standard and Business plans the platform fee is paid on top when you top up. If you bring your own provider key, OpenRouter charges a share of the request's cost instead, once you pass the monthly allowance in the table. ## OpenRouter and 5abeer side by side | | OpenRouter | 5abeer | | --- | --- | --- | | Price per token | The provider's list price | Below the official price | | Models | Hundreds of models from many providers | Claude, GPT and Gemini models, on the [models page](https://5abeer.ai/en/models) | | How you pay | Card, AliPay or USDC | The methods in [Payment methods](https://5abeer.ai/en/docs/start/payment.md) | Both are independent services that give access to other companies' models through their own API. Neither is the official API of the model's maker. ## How much do Claude, GPT and Gemini cost through 5abeer? These are the newest models from each provider, at our price per million tokens. The full list, with the official price next to ours, is on the [API page](https://5abeer.ai/en/api). | Model | Id | Input (ours) | Output (ours) | Context | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Claude Sonnet 5.5 | `claude-sonnet-5.5` | $0.60 | $3 | 1M | | Claude Opus 5.5 | `claude-opus-5.5` | $1.20 | $6 | 1M | | Claude Fable 5.1 | `claude-fable-5.1` | $3 | $15 | — | | Model | Id | Input (ours) | Output (ours) | Context | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | GPT-6.1 Sol | `gpt-6.1-sol` | $0.60 | $3 | 922K | | GPT-6 Astra | `gpt-6-astra` | $3 | $15 | — | | GPT-6 Sol | `gpt-6-sol` | $0.60 | $3 | 922K | | Model | Id | Input (ours) | Output (ours) | Context | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Gemini 4 Argon | `gemini-4-argon` | $0.60 | $3 | — | | Gemini 2.5 Pro | `gemini-2.5-pro` | $0.38 | $3 | 1M | Here is a worked example on the default model, for an app that sends ten million tokens a month and gets one million back: Example: 10,000,000 input tokens and 1,000,000 output tokens on Claude Sonnet 5.5 (`claude-sonnet-5.5`) cost $9.00 at our price against $30.00 at the official price (70% lower). Official price checked October 19, 2026. On OpenRouter, the same tokens cost the official price shown in that example, plus the platform fee from the fee table when you buy the credit on a plan that charges one. Each provider has its own price page: [Claude API](https://5abeer.ai/en/api/claude), [OpenAI API](https://5abeer.ai/en/api/openai) and [Gemini API](https://5abeer.ai/en/api/gemini). To compare for your own app, take the input and output tokens it sends in a typical month and multiply each by the price per million tokens on each service. Each model page shows the official price next to ours, and on OpenRouter you add the credit fee on top. ## When is OpenRouter the better fit? - You need models from providers other than Anthropic, OpenAI and Google. - You want one service to fall back between providers on its own when one fails. - You already pay with AliPay or USDC, and those suit you best. ## When does 5abeer fit better? - Most of your usage is Claude, GPT or Gemini, and you want a lower price per token. - You run Claude Code, Codex or Gemini CLI on a key, and want a setup guide for each: [Claude Code](https://5abeer.ai/en/docs/apps/claude-code.md), [Codex](https://5abeer.ai/en/docs/apps/codex.md) and [Gemini CLI](https://5abeer.ai/en/docs/apps/gemini-cli.md). - You want a spend limit, an expiry date and an IP allow-list on each key. ## How to switch from OpenRouter ### 1. Create a key per provider Each 5abeer key works with one provider's models: one for Claude, one for GPT, one for Gemini. They all draw on the same balance. The steps are in [Create a key](https://5abeer.ai/en/docs/start/keys.md#create). ### 2. Change the base URL Point your code at the base URL for the format you use. OpenAI SDK code keeps working once you change the base URL and the key: | Format | Base URL | Key header | | --- | --- | --- | | OpenAI | `https://api.5abeer.ai/v1` | `Authorization: Bearer ` | | Anthropic | `https://api.5abeer.ai` | `x-api-key: ` | | Gemini | `https://api.5abeer.ai/v1beta` | `x-goog-api-key: ` | ### 3. Change the model ids Model ids can differ between services, so copy each id from its page on the [models page](https://5abeer.ai/en/models). The full setup for each format is in [Base URLs](https://5abeer.ai/en/docs/start/base-urls.md). ### 4. Send a test request Send one short request and check the reply and its cost, as in [Your usage](https://5abeer.ai/en/docs/start/pricing.md#usage), before you move real traffic. The [Quickstart](https://5abeer.ai/en/docs/start/quickstart.md) has a request to copy. ## FAQ ### Does 5abeer have every model OpenRouter has? No. 5abeer sells models from Anthropic, OpenAI and Google. If you depend on a model from another provider, keep it where you have it now. The full list is on the [models page](https://5abeer.ai/en/models). ### Can I use OpenRouter and 5abeer together? Yes. Each service has its own key and base URL, so one app can call both. Many teams move their Claude, GPT and Gemini calls and leave the rest where they are. ### Will my OpenAI SDK code work? Yes. The API is OpenAI-compatible: change the base URL and keep your code. Claude models also work on the Anthropic Messages format, and Gemini models on the Gemini format. ### Do streaming and tool calling work? Yes. Both work in every format: Chat Completions, Responses, Messages and Gemini. The details, including what each model family supports, are in [Streaming](https://5abeer.ai/en/docs/api/streaming.md) and [Tool calling](https://5abeer.ai/en/docs/api/tools.md). ### Does one key work for every model? No. Each key covers one provider's models, and all your keys share one balance. Calling a GPT model with a Claude key returns [`MODEL_PLATFORM_NOT_ALLOWED`](https://5abeer.ai/en/docs/help/errors.md#MODEL_PLATFORM_NOT_ALLOWED). ### Which model should I start with? For general work, start with the default model, [`claude-sonnet-5.5`](https://5abeer.ai/en/models/claude-sonnet-5.5). For the hardest tasks, move to [`claude-opus-5.5`](https://5abeer.ai/en/models/claude-opus-5.5) or [`claude-fable-5.1`](https://5abeer.ai/en/models/claude-fable-5.1). ### Can I pay from Egypt? Yes. The ways to pay from Egypt and the steps are in [How to pay for the OpenAI or Claude API from Egypt](https://5abeer.ai/en/guides/pay-ai-api-from-egypt), and the details are on the [API in Egypt page](https://5abeer.ai/en/api/egypt). ### Is 5abeer part of OpenRouter, OpenAI, Anthropic or Google? No. 5abeer is an independent service, not affiliated with any of them. ## Get started Compare prices per provider on the [API page](https://5abeer.ai/en/api), or create a key and send your first request.