What is the cheapest way to buy OpenRouter credits?

On OpenRouter itself, paying in crypto (5% fee) beats card (5.5%, $0.80 minimum). Discount credit books that resell OpenRouter usage can be cheaper still, within their depth: the table on this page shows today's prices.

Do OpenRouter alternatives give access to the same models?

Discount books relay to OpenRouter, so they reach the models OpenRouter lists, limited to zero-data-retention endpoints. Buying direct only covers that lab's models.

Cheaper OpenRouter alternatives, compared live

Usage bought →	$20	$100	$500	$1,000	$2,000
Orbio · Card	$17.27	$85.10	$424.26	$848.21	$1,696.10
smaaart · Card	$19.00^*	$95.00^*	$505.00^*	$1,030.00^*	$2,080.00^*
Direct from the lab · Card	$20.00	$100.00	$500.00	$1,000.00	$2,000.00
OpenRouter · Crypto	$21.00	$105.00	$525.00	$1,050.00	$2,100.00
OpenRouter · Card	$21.10	$105.50	$527.50	$1,055.00	$2,110.00

Usage bought →

$20

$100

$500

$1,000

$2,000

Orbio · Card

$17.27

$85.10

$424.26

$848.21

$1,696.10

smaaart · Card

$19.00^*

$95.00^*

$505.00^*

$1,030.00^*

$2,080.00^*

Direct from the lab · Card

$20.00

$100.00

$500.00

$1,000.00

$2,000.00

OpenRouter · Crypto

$21.00

$105.00

$525.00

$1,050.00

$2,100.00

OpenRouter · Card

$21.10

$105.50

$527.50

$1,055.00

$2,110.00

The options

Discount credit books: Orbio and smaaart

Both resell OpenRouter usage through their own gateway, with one OpenAI/OpenRouter-compatible key. Credits are sold below face value from a book of discounted slices, cheapest first, plus a 5% platform fee. Discounts are real but limited by each book's depth, so check the column for your amount. smaaart vs Orbio.

Buying direct from the lab

If you use one lab's models only, its prepaid credits cost face value. You lose the single key across labs, and gain each lab's own discounts (batch, caching). OpenRouter vs direct.

OpenRouter with crypto

Same product, 5% instead of 5.5% and no $0.80 minimum: the simplest saving if you already hold crypto.

Paying less per token instead

Wherever you buy, batch APIs and prompt caching cut the token bill itself, often by more than any credit discount. How to pay less per token.

Side by side

	Orbio · Card	smaaart · Card	Direct from the lab · Card	OpenRouter · Crypto	OpenRouter · Card
Payment	Card	Card	Card	Crypto	Card
Models	OpenRouter models through its gateway	Every model on OpenRouter	Only that lab's models	Every model on OpenRouter	Every model on OpenRouter
API keys	One OpenAI/OpenRouter-compatible key	One OpenAI/OpenRouter-compatible key	One account and key per lab	One key, many routing options	One key, many routing options
Data retention	Zero-data-retention endpoints only	Zero-data-retention endpoints only	Each lab's own data policy	Configurable per request (ZDR available)	Configurable per request (ZDR available)
Fees	Credits from a discount book, plus a 5% platform fee and card processing, both included in the quote.	Credits from a discount book, plus a 5% platform fee on face value. Card processing and taxes shown at checkout.	Prepaid credits at face value (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google…). Taxes may apply.	5% on crypto purchases. No markup on model prices.	5.5% on card purchases, $0.80 minimum. No markup on model prices.
Our price source	live quote	live quote	face value	published fee	published fee

Questions

Disclosure: this site is run by the team behind smaaart, one of the options compared. Tables are ranked by price only, from live quotes and published fees, including when smaaart isn't first. How we compare

Cheaper alternatives to OpenRouter credits