LiteLLM vs OpenRouter: which should you use?
Use LiteLLM if you want the gateway inside your own infrastructure with your own provider contracts and no fee on tokens; use OpenRouter if you want one hosted key for hundreds of models and will pay 5.5% on credits for it. For coding agents there is a third option: Standard Compute, a hosted flat plan with included compute that stops at its budget and routing that picks an efficient model per request.
LiteLLM and OpenRouter side by side
| LiteLLM | OpenRouter | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Open-source gateway you self-host | Hosted router and model marketplace |
| Token price | Your providers' prices, no LiteLLM fee | Provider list price plus 5.5% on card credit purchases |
| Accounts | One per provider, your keys | One OpenRouter key; own keys free up to $25,000 a month |
| Model choice | Strategies you configure; beta complexity router with tiers you assign | openrouter/auto picks a model per prompt; pareto-code picks the cheapest above a coding score |
| Spend caps | max_budget per key, user, team and customer (needs a database) | Credit limit per key with daily, weekly or monthly reset |
| Where data goes | Your servers, then your chosen providers | OpenRouter, then the provider; EU routing on Business and Enterprise |
| Claude Code | Your proxy as the base URL | Native, base URL openrouter.ai/api |
| Operations | You run, upgrade and secure it | Hosted |
From litellm.ai, docs.litellm.ai, openrouter.ai/pricing and openrouter.ai/docs, checked October 13, 2026.
What a coding-agent month costs on each
Pinned to one Claude model, both cost less than a Standard Compute plan in a typical month and more in a busy one. On tokens alone LiteLLM saves OpenRouter's 5.5%, which a server, a database and someone's time can easily outweigh for a small team; for a platform team already running infrastructure, that saving and the control are the point.
| Month of coding-agent use | LiteLLM | OpenRouter | Standard Compute |
|---|---|---|---|
| Typical days, Claude Sonnet 5.5 | $71 + hosting | $74 | Standard, $89 ($95 budget) |
| Typical days, Claude Opus 5.5 | $141 + hosting | $149 | Pro, $249 ($269 budget) |
| Busy days, Claude Sonnet 5.5 | $579 + hosting | $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. LiteLLM at Anthropic list price before your hosting; OpenRouter with its 5.5% fee.
Which to choose
- Choose LiteLLM when prompts and keys must stay in your infrastructure, you have provider contracts or cloud commitments, or a platform team wants full control of routing and logging.
- Choose OpenRouter when you want a hosted key for hundreds of models, an automatic router and nothing to operate, and the 5.5% fee is acceptable.
- Choose Standard Compute for coding agents on a fixed monthly price with nothing to operate: compute included, routing for cost, a plan per key for teams and agencies, and requests that stop at the budget.
The catch
They combine: OpenRouter can be one provider inside LiteLLM, and so can Standard Compute. The real choice is who operates the gateway and who pays which bill.
Where Standard Compute fits
Nothing to host and no provider accounts: one key for Claude Code on /v1/messages and Codex on /v1/responses, with a router that chooses an efficient model for routine steps. 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 LiteLLM cheaper than OpenRouter?
On tokens, yes: LiteLLM adds no fee and OpenRouter charges 5.5% on card credit purchases. LiteLLM's costs are the server, database and time to run it.
Can I use OpenRouter inside LiteLLM?
Yes. LiteLLM supports OpenRouter as a provider, so you can keep your own keys for some providers and send the rest through OpenRouter.
Does LiteLLM have an auto router like OpenRouter?
It has a beta complexity router that classifies requests into SIMPLE, MEDIUM, COMPLEX and REASONING tiers, but you assign the model for each tier. OpenRouter's openrouter/auto chooses the model itself.
Which is better for Claude Code?
Both work natively through ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL. LiteLLM's guides go deeper, including Claude subscription passthrough and budgets per key; OpenRouter needs nothing to host.