What happened in the AI gateway market in 2026?
Two AI gateways were bought and a third is being sold: Mintlify bought Helicone (March 3, 2026), Palo Alto Networks closed its Portkey deal on May 29, and Stripe agreed on August 19 to acquire OpenRouter, a deal that hasn't closed. Cloudflare and Together AI launched automatic model routing in beta, NanoGPT raised its subscription from $8 to $12, and DevPass cuts included usage from 3x to 2x the price on October 15.
Every change, by date
| Date | Company | What happened | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 3 | Helicone | Bought by Mintlify, which offers customers help to "migrate to another platform" | Maintenance mode | Mintlify |
| May 12 | NanoGPT | Subscription goes from $8 to $12 a month. Details | In effect | NanoGPT |
| May 15 | Roo Code | Roo Code Router shuts down with the extension and cloud. Where users went | Gone | Sunset notice |
| May 29 | Portkey | Palo Alto Networks closes its acquisition; Prisma AIRS AI Gateway follows on Jul 16. Details | Plans still listed | Palo Alto |
| Aug 19 | OpenRouter | Stripe agrees to acquire OpenRouter. Details | Not closed | Stripe |
| Sep 30 | Cloudflare | Auto Router (cloudflare/auto) picks a model per request, weighing quality against cost | Public beta, free | Cloudflare blog |
| Oct 5 | Together AI | Together Link runs open models inside Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode and Pi | Beta | Together blog |
| Oct 15 | DevPass | Included usage drops from 3x to 2x the price, premium weekly caps of 10% to 15%, and no scripts or bots | Upcoming | Terms |
All dates 2026.
What it means if you pay for a gateway
- Portkey's plans and OpenRouter's fees haven't moved since the acquisitions, and neither buyer has published post-deal pricing.
- Cloudflare's Auto Router covers Chat Completions and Responses traffic, so Claude Code, which uses the Anthropic Messages API, isn't auto-routed there. Together Link's Auto mode switches Claude Code between Opus 5.5 on your own Anthropic key and GLM 5.3.
- NanoGPT kept its allowance at a 50% higher price, and DevPass will give a third less usage at the same price, for interactive coding only. Per-plan numbers are in AI coding plan changes.
If you're reconsidering
If cost is why you're looking, Standard Compute is a flat monthly plan with the model usage included. Requesty and OpenRouter remain the pay-as-you-go options at list price plus a fee, and LiteLLM is the self-hosted one.
| If you're on | Start here |
|---|---|
| OpenRouter | What the Stripe deal changes |
| Portkey | What the Palo Alto deal changes |
| NanoGPT | Whether $12 is still worth it |
| DevPass | The October 15 change, per plan |
| Helicone or Roo Code Router | Discontinued and changed gateways |
The catch
Only the DevPass change has a start date that alters what you get. None of the acquisitions has changed a price or an API so far.
Where Standard Compute fits
Standard Compute is a gateway for coding agents designed around cost: one key for Claude Code, Codex and any OpenAI-compatible agent, with a model chosen per request. Plans run from $19 to $249 a month, each with a published compute budget. At 100%, new requests get HTTP 402 and running requests finish. Europe or US region rules work on every plan.
FAQ
Who bought OpenRouter?
Stripe, in a deal announced on August 19, 2026 that had not closed when we checked.
Is Helicone shutting down?
It is in maintenance mode. Mintlify, which bought it on March 3, 2026, says security updates, bug fixes and new models keep shipping while it helps customers migrate.
Which AI gateways pick a model for you?
OpenRouter (openrouter/auto), Cloudflare's Auto Router (cloudflare/auto, in public beta), Together Link's Auto mode for Claude Code, and Standard Compute, which picks a model per request from the lineup you choose.