# Amux AI vs OpenRouter: zero top-up fees, more native protocols

> Amux AI and OpenRouter both offer a unified LLM API and bill inference at provider list prices with no markup. The differences: Amux AI charges no top-up fee and offers low-cost channels far below official pricing plus discounted official channels; it natively supports the Gemini protocol plus Alibaba Cloud Model Studio, Volcengine Seedance, MiniMax and xAI image and video protocols; and enterprise-grade organization management, with team budgets that need no enterprise plan. OpenRouter covers more models and offers BYOK and enterprise SSO.

Last verified 2026-10-19 · https://amux.ai/vs/openrouter

- **0%** Top-up fee: OpenRouter charges 5.5% on card top-ups and 8% on the Business plan
- **90%** Max saving vs. official price: From low-cost channels, based on live catalog prices; stable official channels are discounted too
- **4** Native text protocols: Including Gemini generateContent, which OpenRouter does not offer natively
- **No upgrade** Team budgets and roles: OpenRouter limits workspace budgets and role assignment to Enterprise

## Amux AI vs OpenRouter, feature by feature

| Feature | Amux AI | OpenRouter |
|---|---|---|
| Inference pricing | No inference markup; low-cost channels go far below official pricing, and stable official channels are discounted too | Billed at provider list price with no markup |
| Top-up fee | 0% — credit received equals amount paid | Card 5.5% ($0.80 minimum), crypto 5%; 8% on the Business plan |
| Credit expiry | Paid credit does not expire | Terms reserve the right to expire unused credits 365 days after purchase |
| Text protocols | Native OpenAI Chat, OpenAI Responses, Anthropic Messages and Gemini (generateContent), with most models callable across protocols | OpenAI Chat, Responses and Anthropic Messages format; no native Gemini protocol |
| Image and video | Image: OpenAI Images and Alibaba Cloud Model Studio. Video: native Model Studio, Volcengine Seedance, MiniMax and xAI request formats plus a unified task API — existing client code only needs a new base URL and key | Proprietary image endpoint and multimodal chat output; proprietary async video endpoint |
| Embeddings and audio | Embeddings, speech and rerank endpoints (Coming soon) | Embeddings, text-to-speech, speech-to-text and rerank endpoints |
| Model coverage | 70+ text, image and video models, with more added regularly; 52 models can switch between providers | Advertises 500+ models from 80+ providers |
| Routing and failover | Five routing strategies, configurable per API key; automatic failover on connection errors, timeouts, rate limits and server errors, with failed attempts not billed | Sort by price, throughput or latency; provider allowlists, automatic fallbacks and model fallbacks |
| Teams and budgets | Enterprise-grade organization management: organizations, workspaces and roles (including a finance role); spend limits per workspace, member and key on every organization — no enterprise plan required | Organizations and workspaces, per-key limits; workspace budgets and role assignment on Enterprise only |
| Data privacy | Request and response bodies of successful text calls are not stored; customer content is never used for training | Bodies not stored by default; optional data sharing in exchange for a 1% discount; per-request zero data retention |
| Usage and export | Itemized charges for every call; monthly statements exported to Excel by key, model and workspace | Activity export to CSV / PDF; cost returned with each response |
| Single sign-on | SAML single sign-on (Coming soon) | SAML SSO on the Enterprise plan |

## Choose Amux AI if

- You want to avoid top-up fees and call Claude, GPT, Gemini and other leading models far below official pricing through low-cost channels, or at a discount through stable official channels
- You use the native Gemini protocol, or want to call image and video models in the native Alibaba Cloud, Volcengine, MiniMax or xAI request formats
- Your team needs budgets per workspace, member and key, with a finance role managing top-ups and invoices
- You want failed retry attempts left off your bill and paid credit that never expires

## Choose OpenRouter if

- Model count is your top priority and you need more long-tail and open-weight models
- You need embeddings, speech or rerank endpoints today (on the Amux AI roadmap)
- You want to bring your own upstream provider keys (BYOK)
- Your procurement requires SAML SSO and a contractual SLA

## Switch from OpenRouter to Amux AI

Both work with the OpenAI and Anthropic SDKs and use the same manufacturer/model ID format. Switching only changes the endpoint and key — your application code stays as it is.

1. Sign up for Amux AI and create an API key in the console.
2. Replace the base URL with the Amux AI endpoint and the API key with your new key.
3. Keep your existing model IDs; for the few models whose version format differs, copy the ID from the model page.

- OpenAI SDK base URL: `https://gateway.amux.ai/v1`
- Anthropic SDK / Claude Code base URL: `https://gateway.amux.ai`

```python
import os
from openai import OpenAI

client = OpenAI(base_url="https://gateway.amux.ai/v1", api_key=os.environ["AMUX_API_KEY"])
response = client.chat.completions.create(
    model="openai/gpt-6.1-sol",
    messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Hello"}],
)
```

- To pin a provider, append ":provider" to the model ID, e.g. anthropic/claude-sonnet-5:anthropic, or set a routing strategy on the API key.
- Claude Code and the Anthropic SDK use the endpoint without /v1; the Gemini SDK can call generateContent directly.

## Frequently asked questions

### What is the main difference between Amux AI and OpenRouter?

Both bill at provider list prices with no markup. Amux AI charges no top-up fee, offers low-cost channels far below official pricing plus discounted official channels, and natively supports the Gemini protocol plus Alibaba Cloud Model Studio, Volcengine Seedance, MiniMax and xAI image and video protocols; enterprise-grade organization management, with team budgets that need no enterprise plan. OpenRouter covers more models and offers embeddings and audio endpoints, BYOK and enterprise SSO.

### What does a $100 top-up actually cost on each?

A $100 top-up on Amux AI gives you $100 in credit with no fee. OpenRouter charges a 5.5% fee ($0.80 minimum) on card purchases, so $100 in credit costs an extra $5.50; the Business plan rate is 8% (as of 2026-10-19 — see the OpenRouter pricing page for current rates).

### What code changes are needed to migrate from OpenRouter to Amux AI?

Usually two: point the base URL at the Amux AI endpoint and replace the API key with an Amux AI key. Model IDs use the same manufacturer/model format; check the Amux AI model page for the exact name of each model.

### How can Amux AI price models below the official rate?

Amux AI connects each model to several providers in two kinds of channels: low-cost channels priced far below official pricing for cost-sensitive workloads, and official channels from model makers and major clouds that are stable and also discounted. Live per-provider prices are published on each model page; you can restrict an API key or workspace to official channels only, or set price-first routing.

### Can Claude Code, Cursor and similar tools switch from OpenRouter to Amux AI?

Yes. Amux AI natively implements the Anthropic Messages and OpenAI protocols, and setup guides cover Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI, Cursor, Cline, Cherry Studio and more — replace the endpoint and key as described.

### Can I use OpenRouter and Amux AI together?

Yes. Both work with the OpenAI SDK, so you can split traffic by model or use case — for example, send mainstream models through Amux AI for lower prices and keep long-tail models on OpenRouter.

_OpenRouter and other product names mentioned on this page are trademarks of their respective owners. Information about third-party products is compiled from their official public sources for evaluation purposes only and may change; refer to each vendor's website for current details. To report an inaccuracy, contact support@amux.ai._