O 
OpenRouter
One API and one bill for hundreds of models across every provider.
NOT REALLY
why this verdict
Keep it — OpenAI has not replaced it
OpenAI's version overlaps, but does not finish the AI assistants job, so this one is still worth keeping open.
- A named launch, not a vibe named, unlinked
- Model providers want you buying credits directly from them. OpenAI, January 1, 2025 — no announcement link recorded yet.
- How much of the job it covers not the job editorial call
- Parts of it. The job still needs the tool to get finished.
- Is there a free way to do it? yes
- 3 of 3 listed replacements have a usable free tier: Together AI, Groq and LiteLLM.
- What the call is worth nothing to cancel
- No paid entry tier tracked, so there is no subscription to cancel.
Reason composed from the fields above missing: announcement linked recorded: free replacement listed recorded: two or more escape hatches
- Threatened by
- OpenAI
- Since
- January 1, 2025
- List price
- free
- Per year
- —
The backstory
OpenRouter turned model choice into a routing problem: same endpoint, automatic failover, and a public leaderboard of what developers actually spend tokens on. Every lab would rather sell you its own API, which is exactly why an independent switchboard has value when the best model changes every two months.
Escape hatches
T 
Together AI Open models with its own inference.
together.ai open_in_new G 
Groq Much faster on supported models.
groq.com open_in_new L 
LiteLLM Self-hosted routing proxy.
litellm.ai open_in_new3 of 3 replacements have a usable free tier.