Summary
- Card top-ups cost 5.5 percent with a $0.80 minimum. Crypto top-ups cost 5 percent.
- Below $14.55 the minimum applies, so a $10 top-up pays 8 percent and a $5 top-up pays 16 percent.
- Token prices pass through at list, so the effective rate is list price times 1.055.
- At $2,000 a month the fee is $1,320 a year.
01
How the fee works
OpenRouter does not mark up inference. It passes provider list prices through and charges when credit is bought. The fee is taken before a single token is served.
| Payment method | Fee |
|---|---|
| Card | 5.5%, minimum $0.80 |
| Crypto | 5% |
02
Small top-ups pay more
The $0.80 minimum matters for small balances. 5.5 percent of $14.55 is $0.80, so any card top-up below that amount pays a higher effective rate.
| Top-up | Fee | Effective rate |
|---|---|---|
| $5 | $0.80 | 16.0% |
| $10 | $0.80 | 8.0% |
| $14.55 | $0.80 | 5.5% |
| $20 | $1.10 | 5.5% |
| $100 | $5.50 | 5.5% |
03
What it costs over a year
The percentage looks small per purchase. Annualised, it is a line item.
Show data as a table
| Annual fee | |
|---|---|
| $50 a month | $33 |
| $200 a month | $132 |
| $500 a month | $330 |
| $2,000 a month | $1,320 |
| $5,000 a month | $3,300 |
| Monthly top-up | Fee per month | Fee per year |
|---|---|---|
| $50 | $2.75 | $33 |
| $200 | $11 | $132 |
| $500 | $27.50 | $330 |
| $2,000 | $110 | $1,320 |
| $5,000 | $275 | $3,300 |
04
The effective token price
Because the fee applies to every dollar loaded, it applies to every token bought with that dollar. The effective OpenRouter rate is the list price multiplied by 1.055.
| Model | List price | OpenRouter effective |
|---|---|---|
| Claude Sonnet 5 | $2.00 / $10.00 | $2.11 / $10.55 |
| GPT-5.5 | $5.00 / $30.00 | $5.28 / $31.65 |
| Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview | $2.00 / $12.00 | $2.11 / $12.66 |
That makes OpenRouter more expensive than calling each provider directly. The extra 5.5 percent buys one key, one bill and access to several hundred models.
05
When the fee is worth paying
- You use many niche or legacy models that no other gateway lists.
- You rely on free-tier models for prototypes.
- Your monthly spend is small enough that the fee is a rounding error.
If none of these apply, the fee is a cost with no matching benefit.
06
Providers that avoid it
| Provider | Fee on credits | Token price | Keys |
|---|---|---|---|
| Provider direct | None | List | One per provider |
| OpenRouter | 5.5% card, 5% crypto | List | One |
| SayGM | None | At or below list | One |
Going direct removes the fee but multiplies keys, bills and SDK differences. A fee-free gateway keeps the single key. The migration checklist covers the move, and current rates are on SayGM's pricing page (opens in a new tab).
Prices in this guide are a October 2026 snapshot and move each epoch.
Current SayGM pricing (opens in a new tab)