OpenRouter vs Vercel AI Gateway
Default scenario: At $10,000 model spend / month, estimated bills are $0/yr for Vercel AI Gateway and $6,600/yr for OpenRouter. That’s a $6,600 difference before accounting for different features or operating costs.
The services may differ in features, performance, support and the work you need to do yourself. Read the notes and test what matters to your setup.
Your selected usage
$10,000 model spend / month
- OpenRouter: $6,600/yr estimated
- Vercel AI Gateway: $0/yr estimated
Estimated costs at different usage levels
| Usage | OpenRouter | Vercel AI Gateway |
|---|---|---|
| Default scenario$10,000 model spend / month | $6,600/yrStandard credits · 5.5% fee | $0/yrno markup |
Excludes the model spend itself. Self-hosted options cost the compute you run them on. Try your own numbers against all llm gateways providers.
Side by side
| OpenRouter | Vercel AI Gateway | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Hosted unified API to hundreds of LLMs from many providers, billed via prepaid credits with a fee on credit purchases. | Vercel-hosted unified API to many LLM providers with prepaid credits at provider list price, budgets and fallbacks. |
| Headquarters | 🇺🇸 United States | 🇺🇸 United States |
| Parent jurisdiction | 🇺🇸 United States | 🇺🇸 United States (Vercel) |
| EU self-serve plan | Available; check eligible plans and regions | No / not documented |
| GDPR DPA | Yes | Yes |
| Billing | payg | payg |
| Free tier | Free models available; no monthly fee, pay-as-you-go credits. | $5 of free credits every 30 days on a subset of models (lost once you buy credits). |
| Open source | No | No |
| Source last checked | 2026-10-06 | 2026-10-06 |
| Pricing evidence | Published rates | Published rates |
Which should you choose?
Vercel AI Gateway has the lower estimated bill at every usage level we tested, from $1,000 model spend / month to $1,000,000 model spend / month.
Choose OpenRouter if…
- you need EU data residency on a self-serve plan
Choose Vercel AI Gateway if…
Our data shows no advantage on price, residency, jurisdiction or licensing. Compare features in the notes below.
Based on estimated list-price bills and the facts above. Features, performance and support aren’t scored.
OpenRouter pricing
Calculated from the listed vendor rates; exclusions still apply.
| Plan | Model-spend fee (%) |
|---|---|
| Standard credits | 5.5 |
| Business credits | 8 |
5.5% platform fee on credit purchases (Standard); 8% on the Business plan. Model tokens are passed through at provider list price. BYOK: first $25,000/month of list-price inference has no fee, 5% after. EU in-region routing (eu.openrouter.ai) is limited to Business and Enterprise plans. DPA published at openrouter.ai/data-processing-agreement.
OpenRouter plan limits, full rates and cheaper alternatives · official pricing page
Vercel AI Gateway pricing
Calculated from the listed vendor rates; exclusions still apply.
| Base fee / month |
|---|
| $0 |
No markup or platform fee on tokens, including BYOK (BYOK requires purchased credits / paid tier). Payment processing fees on credit purchases are the customer's responsibility (none on Enterprise invoicing). Optional add-ons cost extra: team-wide provider allowlist or ZDR $0.10 per 1K requests, custom reporting, trace drains. No documented EU-only processing for the gateway.
Vercel AI Gateway plan limits, full rates and cheaper alternatives · official pricing page
Frequently asked questions
Is OpenRouter cheaper than Vercel AI Gateway?
Vercel AI Gateway has the lower estimated bill at every usage level we tested, from $1,000 model spend / month to $1,000,000 model spend / month. At $10,000 model spend / month, the estimates are $6,600/yr for OpenRouter and $0/yr for Vercel AI Gateway. Estimates use list prices and leave out features, support and operating costs.
Do OpenRouter and Vercel AI Gateway offer EU data residency?
OpenRouter offers EU data residency on a self-serve plan. Vercel AI Gateway doesn’t document it on a self-serve plan.
Do OpenRouter and Vercel AI Gateway have a free tier or trial?
OpenRouter: Free models available; no monthly fee, pay-as-you-go credits. Vercel AI Gateway: $5 of free credits every 30 days on a subset of models (lost once you buy credits).
Where are OpenRouter and Vercel AI Gateway based?
OpenRouter is headquartered in the United States. Vercel AI Gateway is headquartered in the United States and owned by Vercel (the United States).