Looking for an alternative to Vercel AI Gateway?

Vercel's model gateway: OpenAI-compatible (https://ai-gateway.vercel.sh/v1) and Anthropic-compatible endpoints, including a dedicated Claude Code endpoint, billed from prepaid AI Gateway Credits at provider list prices.

Pricing: "No markup and no platform fee on tokens": pay-as-you-go credits at provider list price. Every Vercel team gets $5 a month of free credit on free-tier models with lower rate limits; buying credits moves you to the paid tier and the free credit stops. BYOK has no fee. Paid add-ons include team-wide zero data retention and provider allowlists ($0.10 per 1,000 requests each). (Verified 2026-10-13.)

TL;DR

Vercel AI Gateway is the efficient way to buy tokens at list price, especially for apps already on Vercel, with budgets per key and a one-command Claude Code setup. It removes the markup, not the variance: a busy agent month is still a big per-token bill. Standard Compute is the alternative when you want the month capped: a flat plan per developer key, smart routing across frontier and efficient models, and requests that stop at the budget.

Where Vercel AI Gateway shines

•Zero markup and no platform fee on tokens, including with your own provider keys
•$5 of free monthly credit to test on free-tier models
•Budgets for a team, project, API key or team member
•One-command Claude Code setup (npx vercel ai-gateway setup --agent claude-code), plus a documented path for Claude subscription users
•Natural fit for apps already on Vercel and the AI SDK; invoicing and volume discounts for enterprise

Why people look for an alternative

•List price with no markup still means a per-token bill: a heavy agent month costs list price for every token
•The free tier covers a subset of models with lower rate limits (429s) and ends once you buy credits
•Team-wide zero data retention and provider allowlists are paid add-ons on Pro and Enterprise
•Card top-ups leave payment processing fees to you

Standard Compute vs Vercel AI Gateway

Standard Compute is an OpenAI-compatible API with frontier-model compute at a flat monthly price (from $19/mo): no per-token billing and no 5-hour or weekly windows. Requests run at full speed until the monthly compute budget is used, then stop until renewal or an upgrade. There are no overage charges.

Pick Standard Compute when…

•You want one fixed monthly price per developer key and a hard stop at the budget, with no overage
•Through any zero-markup gateway a frontier token costs the same; the lever is which model handles each request, and model standardcompute routes routine steps to efficient models
•Europe or US region rules on a key, team or company without per-request add-on fees
•Codex via /v1/responses and OpenCode via models.dev on the same key as Claude Code

Stick with Vercel AI Gateway when…

•You pay per token and want list price with zero markup; our pay-as-you-go top-ups are usage plus 15%
•Your app already runs on Vercel and the AI SDK
•Light or bursty usage that $5 of monthly free credit or a small balance covers
•You need to pin exact models across many providers, with BYOK at no fee

Buying for a team: AI coding agent cost per developer

Switching takes one config change

Standard Compute is OpenAI-compatible, so any tool or SDK that lets you set a custom base URL migrates in minutes:

Base URL  = https://api.stdcmpt.com/v1
API key   = your Standard Compute key
Model     = standardcompute

Setup guides for OpenClaw, Hermes, OpenCode, Cursor, Cline, Aider and more are on the integrations page. Free tier to test it, no card required.

FAQ

Is Vercel AI Gateway cheaper than Standard Compute?

Per token, yes: it charges provider list price with no markup, while our pay-as-you-go top-ups are usage plus 15%. Standard Compute plans are fixed monthly prices ($19 to $249 for individual plans) with compute budgets slightly above the price ($20 to $269), stretched by routing to efficient models. Light usage is cheaper metered; daily agent use is where a fixed plan caps the cost.

Can I run Claude Code through either?

Yes. Vercel's setup command points ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL at https://ai-gateway.vercel.sh/claude-code. For Standard Compute, set ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL to https://api.stdcmpt.com and use your Standard Compute key.

What happens when the money runs out?

On Vercel AI Gateway, requests draw from your credit balance; you can set budgets and an optional auto top-up. On Standard Compute, requests run at full speed until the monthly compute budget is used, then stop until renewal, an upgrade or a top-up you choose. There are no overage charges.

Sources: Vercel AI Gateway pricing; Claude Code with AI Gateway; OpenAI Chat Completions API with AI Gateway

The flat-rate alternative to Vercel AI Gateway

Standard Compute

Current frontier models Claude Opus 5.5 · Claude Sonnet 5.5