Anthropic API vs OpenRouter
API for Claude — frontier models for chat, tool use, agents, and long-context reasoning
vs. Unified API for 300+ LLMs across 60+ providers — 1 key, any model
Pricing tiers
Anthropic API
Opus 4.7 — usage
Input $5 / output $25 / cache-write $6.25 / cache-read $0.50 per 1M tokens. Batch = 50% off.
Custom
Sonnet 4.6 — usage
Input $3 / output $15 / cache-write $3.75 / cache-read $0.30 per 1M tokens. Batch = 50% off.
Custom
Haiku 4.5 — usage
Input $1 / output $5 / cache-write $1.25 / cache-read $0.10 per 1M tokens. Batch = 50% off.
Custom
OpenRouter
Free
25+ free models. 50 requests/day rate limit. 1M free requests/month base.
Free
Pay-as-you-go
5.5% platform fee on usage. Access to 300+ models, 60+ providers. High global rate limits.
$0 base (usage-based)
Enterprise
Volume-based pricing, bulk discounts, SSO/SAML, dedicated rate limits. 5M free requests/month.
Custom
Free-tier quotas head-to-head
Comparing opus-4-7 on Anthropic API vs free on OpenRouter.
| Metric | Anthropic API | OpenRouter |
|---|---|---|
| discount batch | 50 % off | — |
Features
Anthropic API · 0 features
OpenRouter · 15 features
- 300+ Models — Claude, GPT, Gemini, Llama, Mistral, Qwen, DeepSeek, Cohere, Grok + open-source.
- 60+ Providers — Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, Together, Fireworks, Groq, DeepInfra, Replicate, etc.
- Auto Fallback — Automatic retry to backup provider on failure.
- Bring Your Own Key — Use your own provider keys → pay providers directly + no platform fee.
- Credit System — Prepay credits via card, crypto, or bank.
- Data Retention Controls — Opt-out of training/retention per provider.
- Free Models Tier — 25+ models available at $0 (limited rate).
- Prompt Caching — Automatic cache for identical prefixes (provider-dependent).
- Provider Preferences — Pin preferred providers per request or default.
- Rankings & Stats — Public leaderboard of most-used models.
- Regional Routing — Route requests to specific geographic regions.
- Streaming — SSE + partial completions.
- Structured Outputs — JSON-mode + JSON schema across supporting models.
- Tool Use / Function Calling — Unified tool calling across providers.
- Unified OpenAI-Compat API — Same endpoint for every model + provider.
Developer interfaces
| Kind | Anthropic API | OpenRouter |
|---|---|---|
| CLI | Claude Code CLI | — |
| SDK | Go SDK, Java SDK, Python SDK, Ruby SDK, TypeScript SDK (@anthropic-ai/sdk) | Any OpenAI SDK |
| REST | AWS Bedrock, Google Vertex AI, Microsoft Azure AI, REST API (Messages + Agents) | OpenRouter API (OpenAI-compat) |
| MCP | — | OpenRouter MCP |
| OTHER | — | OpenRouter Dashboard |
Staxly is an independent catalog of developer platforms. Outbound links to Anthropic API and OpenRouter are plain references to their official websites. Pricing is verified against vendor pages at publication time — reconfirm before buying.
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