Kilo Gateway vs OpenRouter: which is better?
Kilo Gateway is the better deal for steady Kilo Code users, with a 5% fee, credits that don't expire and Kilo Pass bonuses of up to 40%, while OpenRouter is the better fit for other agents, with documented Claude Code, Codex and Responses support. Both have an automatic router. For coding agents there is a third option: Standard Compute, a flat plan with included compute that stops at its budget and routing that picks an efficient model per request.
Kilo Gateway and OpenRouter side by side
| Kilo Gateway | OpenRouter | |
|---|---|---|
| Fee | 5% on credit purchases and Kilo Pass | 5.5% on card credit purchases ($0.80 minimum), 8% on Business |
| Your own keys | No Kilo fee | Free up to $25,000 of list-price use a month, then 5% |
| Subscription | Kilo Pass $19, $49 or $199, with bonus credits up to 40% (50% on annual) | None |
| Credit expiry | Purchased credits never expire; bonus credits expire monthly | May expire one year after purchase |
| Auto routing | kilo-auto/efficient routes by difficulty to the cheapest model proven accurate enough; custom pools of 1 to 10 models | openrouter/auto ranks by community spend share per task; pareto-code by coding score |
| Documented APIs | OpenAI chat completions and FIM | Chat completions, Anthropic Messages, Responses |
| Claude Code and Codex | No documented setup | Cookbooks for both |
| Spend caps | Per-user daily limits for organizations; sub-org budgets on Enterprise | Credit limit per key with resets; workspace budgets on Enterprise |
| EU | EU data residency on Enterprise | EU and US in-region routing on Business and Enterprise |
From kilo.ai/docs/gateway, kilo.ai/pricing, openrouter.ai/pricing and openrouter.ai/docs, checked October 13, 2026.
What a coding-agent month costs
Pinned to one Claude model, both cost less than a Standard Compute plan in a typical month and more in a busy one. On fees the two are nearly level. Kilo pulls ahead for a subscriber who keeps the streak going, because bonus credits are free compute at list price. Both have auto routers. Kilo's efficient mode targets cost directly, routing by each request's difficulty, while OpenRouter's auto router ranks models by what other users spend on each task type, with a cost tier you set.
| Month of coding-agent use | Kilo Gateway | OpenRouter | Standard Compute |
|---|---|---|---|
| Typical days, Claude Sonnet 5.5 | $74 | $74 | Standard, $89 ($95 budget) |
| Typical days, Claude Opus 5.5 | $148 | $149 | Pro, $249 ($269 budget) |
| Busy days, Claude Sonnet 5.5 | $608 | $611 | Pro Plus, $499 ($549 budget) |
Month = 20 working days of the median (typical) or 90th-percentile (busy) coding-agent day in our Agent Burn Index, at list price plus each gateway's fee, before Kilo Pass bonuses. A steady Kilo Pass Pro subscriber at the full 40% bonus pays about $54 for the typical Sonnet month.
Which to choose
- Choose Kilo Gateway if Kilo Code is your agent and you will stay subscribed long enough for the Kilo Pass bonus to build.
- Choose OpenRouter for Claude Code, Codex or any agent that needs Anthropic Messages or Responses, the widest catalog, or a free tier for experiments.
- Choose Standard Compute for coding agents on a fixed monthly price: compute included, routing for cost, documented Claude Code and Codex endpoints, a plan per key for teams and agencies, and Europe or US rules without Enterprise.
The catch
Both bill per token underneath. Kilo's bonuses arrive only after the month's paid credits are used and expire at month end, and OpenRouter has no subscription at all, so a busy month costs list price for every step on either.
Where Standard Compute fits
One key for Claude Code on /v1/messages and Codex on /v1/responses, with a router that chooses an efficient model for routine steps and keeps frontier models for hard ones. Plans start at $19 with the compute included, stop at their budget with no overage, and come as a plan per key for teams and agencies, with Europe or US rules on any plan.
FAQ
Is Kilo Gateway cheaper than OpenRouter?
Slightly on fees, 5% against 5.5%, and noticeably for Kilo Pass subscribers once bonus credits reach 40%. Both charge provider list price for tokens.
Does Kilo Gateway have an auto router?
Yes. kilo-auto/efficient classifies each request's difficulty and sends it to the cheapest model proven accurate enough, and stays on a model across related turns. You can also build a custom pool of 1 to 10 models.
Can I use Kilo Gateway with Claude Code like OpenRouter?
OpenRouter documents it; Kilo doesn't. Kilo's gateway answered an Anthropic-format test request on October 13, 2026, but that path is undocumented and unsupported.
Do Kilo credits expire?
Purchased credits never expire. Kilo Pass bonus credits expire at the end of each monthly cycle. OpenRouter reserves the right to expire unused credits a year after purchase.