OpenRouter is a unified API for accessing multiple large language models. It provides a single integration point for mainstream LLM providers, simplifies experimentation, reduces vendor lock-in, and optimizes costs by routing requests to the most appropriate model. Popular tools like Cline and Open WebUI use OpenRouter as their endpoint. During our Radar discussion, we questioned whether most projects truly need to switch between models, given that OpenRouter must add price markup as a profit model on top of this encapsulation layer. However, we also recognize that OpenRouter provides various load-balancing strategies to help optimize costs. One particularly useful feature is its ability to bypass API rate limits. If your application exceeds the rate limit of a single LLM provider, OpenRouter can help you break through this limitation and achieve better throughput.
