byesu vs OpenRouter: Choosing an AI API Gateway
Short version: OpenRouter is the industry benchmark for model aggregation — 500+ models from 80+ providers behind one API, with inference billed at the provider's list price and a platform fee charged when you buy credits. It speaks the OpenAI Chat Completions schema and now also documents an Anthropic Messages-format endpoint. byesu is a smaller, focused gateway: one key covers Claude, GPT-6.1 / GPT-5.6, Grok and Gemini through two API formats — OpenAI-compatible /v1/chat/completions and Anthropic-native /v1/messages — billed pay-as-you-go with a flat multiplier table (input 1x / output 5x / cache hit 0.1x) and top-ups via USDT or Alipay. Want maximum breadth, routing and BYOK? Pick OpenRouter. Want one cost formula across all models, any model inside Claude Code, USDT top-ups or flat per-image prices? byesu is built for that.
This page was first written in July 2026. Every OpenRouter claim below was re-checked against openrouter.ai (docs, FAQ, support and pricing pages) on 2026-10-22; anything we could not verify is not on this page.
At a Glance
| Dimension | byesu | OpenRouter |
|---|---|---|
| API formats | OpenAI-compatible and Anthropic-native /v1/messages | OpenAI-style /api/v1/chat/completions plus an Anthropic Messages-format /api/v1/messages (API reference, 2026-10-22) |
| Prompt caching | One table for all models: input 1x / output 5x / cache hit 0.1x | Provider pass-through: Claude reads 0.1x, writes 1.25x–2x; OpenAI reads 0.25x–0.5x, writes free before GPT-5.6 and 1.25x from GPT-5.6 (docs) |
| Inference pricing | Public multipliers; live billed price in the console | Provider list price on every plan, no inference markup (FAQ, pricing page) |
| Credit purchase fees | Balance top-up in the console | Platform fee on credit purchases: 5.5% (Standard), 8% (Business) (pricing page, 2026-10-22) |
| BYOK | Not offered | First $25,000 of list-price inference per month without fee, 5% after (pricing page) |
| Payments | USDT, Alipay | Credit and debit cards, AliPay, USDC; PayPal in progress (FAQ, support page) |
| Model coverage | Curated: Claude, GPT-6.1 / GPT-5.6, Grok, Gemini + image models | 500+ models, 80+ providers (pricing page) |
| Image generation | Five image models at a flat per-image price, the same at 1K / 2K / 4K | Dedicated Image API (POST /api/v1/images), billed at each endpoint's pricing (docs) |
| Subscription | None — pay-as-you-go | None on Standard / Business — prepaid credits, no minimums (pricing page) |
API Protocols: OpenAI and Anthropic Formats
OpenRouter's core design is normalization: its FAQ says it implements the OpenAI API specification for the /completions and /chat/completions endpoints, so any OpenAI SDK works unchanged and one request format reaches its whole catalog. A genuinely excellent design if you are standardized on the OpenAI schema.
It now covers Anthropic-format clients too. The OpenRouter API reference documents POST /api/v1/messages, which creates a message in the Anthropic Messages API format, and its Claude Code guide points ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL at https://openrouter.ai/api (checked 2026-10-22). One caveat from that guide: Claude Code via OpenRouter is only guaranteed to work with the Anthropic first-party provider, and OpenRouter recommends making Anthropic the top-priority provider.
byesu runs both formats side by side: OpenAI-compatible calls use https://byesu.si/v1/chat/completions, and Anthropic-native clients get a real /v1/messages endpoint:
# Anthropic-native — for Claude Code, Anthropic SDKs
curl https://byesu.si/v1/messages \
-H "Authorization: Bearer sk-YOUR_TOKEN" \
-H "anthropic-version: 2023-06-01" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"model":"claude-opus-4.8","max_tokens":512,
"messages":[{"role":"user","content":"Summarize this design doc in five bullets."}]}'Any model is served through either format — which is how Grok 4.5 or GPT-5.6 run inside Claude Code with three environment variables (setup guide).
Prompt Caching Billing
Both platforms handle caching honestly; the structure differs.
OpenRouter passes through each provider figure (docs/features/prompt-caching, checked 2026-10-22): Anthropic models bill cache writes at 1.25x input (5-minute TTL) or 2x (1-hour TTL) and cache reads at 0.1x; OpenAI models bill reads at 0.25x or 0.5x depending on the model, with free cache writes on models before the GPT-5.6 family and 1.25x writes from GPT-5.6 on; Gemini reads at 0.25x, DeepSeek at 0.1x. Faithful to every upstream — but your cost model changes with each provider.
byesu uses one multiplier table for the whole platform: input 1x, output 5x, cache hit 0.1x, relative to each model's base price. The 0.1x cache-hit rate mirrors the official Anthropic cache-read ratio and applies consistently, so cache-heavy cost math looks the same whichever model you route to. The console shows your live billed price next to the official list price.
For agent workloads that re-read a large context every turn — Claude Code sessions, long tool loops — the cache-hit rate often dominates the bill; model it before choosing.
Billing Structure and Fees
OpenRouter is transparent and fully published: inference is billed at the provider's list price on every plan, with no markup (FAQ, pricing page); it monetizes at deposit time instead — a platform fee on credit purchases of 5.5% on the Standard plan and 8% on Business (pricing page, checked 2026-10-22), and its support page notes that crypto payments may include an additional processing fee. BYOK: on the pay-as-you-go plans the first $25,000 of list-price inference each month carries no fee, and usage above that costs 5% of what the same model and provider would cost on OpenRouter (FAQ, pricing page).
byesu bills per token with public group multipliers (input 1x / output 5x / cache hit 0.1x). For orientation, official list prices: GPT-5.6 Sol $5 / $30 per million input/output tokens, Terra $2.5 / $15, Luna $1 / $6, Grok 4.5 $2 / $6 (cached input $0.50), Claude Opus 4.8 $5 / $25 — the console shows the price you actually pay next to them, live.
Payment Methods
OpenRouter accepts credit and debit cards, AliPay and cryptocurrency payments in USDC, and says PayPal is in progress (FAQ and support page, checked 2026-10-22). On byesu, you top up with USDT or Alipay.
Model Coverage
No contest on breadth: OpenRouter lists 500+ models from 80+ providers (pricing page, checked 2026-10-22), with public usage rankings and provider routing with fallbacks; if you evaluate many models or need niche open-weight checkpoints, it is the obvious pick — no asterisk. It also offers a dedicated Image API, billed at each endpoint's pricing.
byesu curates a frontier set instead: Claude (Opus 5.5 / 4.8, Sonnet 5.5), the GPT-6.1 / GPT-6 and GPT-5.6 families, Grok and Gemini — plus five image models with posted per-image prices, the same at 1K / 2K / 4K: gpt-image-2 and gpt-image-2.5 $0.009/image, and the Gemini image models gemini-3.0-pro-image-ultra $0.009, gemini-nano-banana-2.1-ultra $0.008 and gemini-3.1-flash-image-ultra $0.007/image (prices as of 2026-10-22; no video model is on sale right now). Fewer models, but every one reachable through both API formats with a single key.
Which One Should You Pick?
Choose OpenRouter if you:
- Need breadth — hundreds of models and fast access to new releases
- Want provider routing, fallbacks and rankings across many providers
- Want BYOK with your own provider accounts, or prefer paying by card, AliPay or USDC
Choose byesu if you:
- Want to run any model on the platform — GPT, Grok and Gemini as well as Claude — inside Claude Code and other Anthropic-format clients through
/v1/messages - Operate cache-heavy agent loops and want one predictable multiplier table across all models
- Top up with USDT or Alipay
- Want image models at a flat per-image price that does not change with resolution, behind the same account as your text models
The two are not mutually exclusive: you can use OpenRouter for exploration and byesu for production traffic. Both are pay-as-you-go, so the switching cost is roughly one base URL.
Related Links
- Quick Start (3 steps) — create a token · set the address · pick a model
- Claude Code CLI Setup — environment variables and one-click script
- Console Sign-up / Create Token — get an
sk-token and see live pricing
FAQ
Is byesu a good OpenRouter alternative?
It depends on your workload. OpenRouter lists 500+ models from 80+ providers behind one API, bills inference at the provider list price and charges a platform fee when you buy credits. byesu is a focused AI API gateway with OpenAI-compatible and Anthropic-native endpoints, a flat multiplier table (input 1x, output 5x, cache hit 0.1x), flat per-image prices and top-ups via USDT or Alipay. Teams that need maximum breadth, routing and BYOK should use OpenRouter; teams that want one cost formula across models or USDT top-ups often prefer byesu.
Does OpenRouter support the Anthropic /v1/messages API format?
Yes. As of 2026-10-22 the OpenRouter API reference documents POST /api/v1/messages, which creates a message in the Anthropic Messages API format, and its Claude Code guide sets ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL to https://openrouter.ai/api. The guide says Claude Code via OpenRouter is only guaranteed to work with the Anthropic first-party provider. byesu also exposes /v1/messages and serves every model on the platform through it.
What fees does OpenRouter charge when buying credits?
According to the OpenRouter pricing page (checked 2026-10-22), a platform fee is charged when you buy credits: 5.5% on the Standard pay-as-you-go plan and 8% on Business. Inference itself is billed at the provider list price on every plan, and the support page notes that crypto payments may include an additional processing fee. With your own provider keys (BYOK), the first $25,000 of list-price inference each month carries no fee and usage above that costs 5%.
How does prompt caching billing compare between byesu and OpenRouter?
byesu bills every model with one multiplier table: input 1x, output 5x, cache hit 0.1x, with the live billed price shown in the console. OpenRouter passes through the cache pricing of each provider: for Anthropic models, cache writes cost 1.25x input (5-minute TTL) or 2x (1-hour TTL) and cache reads 0.1x; OpenAI cache reads cost 0.25x or 0.5x, with free cache writes on models before GPT-5.6 and 1.25x writes from GPT-5.6 on. Both preserve official cache economics; byesu keeps the math uniform across models.
Which gateway should I use with Claude Code?
Both offer an Anthropic-format endpoint that Claude Code can use. On byesu you point ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL at https://byesu.si, set your token, and any model on the platform runs inside Claude Code. OpenRouter documents ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL=https://openrouter.ai/api and says Claude Code is only guaranteed to work with the Anthropic first-party provider, so it suits Claude models routed to Anthropic.