OpenRouter Pricing and Payment Methods: How to Pay with Crypto (USDC)
OpenRouter has no subscription: you buy credits from $5, with a 5.5% card fee or a flat 5% fee in USDC. Payment methods, crypto steps and refunds.
OpenRouter accepts crypto on its own checkout, so we don’t resell it or add a fee. Pay on its site with your own account.
Go to openrouter.ai ↗OpenRouter takes crypto directly. You pay in USDC through a Coinbase checkout on your credits page, with a flat 5% fee and no minimum fee. There’s no subscription to buy: OpenRouter pricing is pay-as-you-go credits, and a crypto top-up can’t be refunded once it’s made.
We checked these facts on October 7, 2026. The big news this year is ownership: on August 19, 2026 OpenRouter announced it is joining Stripe, and said “nothing about your integration changes.” We don’t sell OpenRouter credits and take no cut. You pay OpenRouter yourself.
OpenRouter pricing: plans and fees
| Plan | What it costs | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 25+ free models, 50 requests a day |
| Standard | 5.5% fee on card purchases, 5% on crypto | 500+ models from 80+ providers, pay as you go |
| Business | 8% fee on credit purchases | EU and US in-region routing, up to 1,000 workspaces, no monthly minimum or contract |
| Enterprise | Fee discounts available | Invoicing, SSO/SAML and SLAs |
Model usage is billed at each provider’s own price. In OpenRouter’s words, “there is no markup on inference pricing.” OpenRouter earns its money from the fee you pay when you buy credits.
Each purchase must be between $5 and $25,000. Prices are in US dollars everywhere, and VAT or GST may be added on invoices where required. There are no yearly plans and no discount on inference; Enterprise customers can get lower fees. We found no student discount.
The free tier allows 50 requests a day across the free models. Once you’ve bought at least 10 credits, free models allow 1,000 requests a day. If you bring your own provider key, the first $25,000 of list-price usage each month carries no fee and 5% after that. OpenRouter has said that 5% fee will be replaced by a fixed monthly subscription at a price it hasn’t announced. As of October 7, 2026 that hadn’t launched.
How to pay for OpenRouter with crypto
- Sign in and open Settings → Credits (openrouter.ai/settings/credits).
- Choose an amount between $5 and $25,000 and pick the crypto (Coinbase) option.
- Pay in USDC from your wallet in the Coinbase Business checkout that opens.
- Your credits appear once the payment confirms. If they don’t, email [email protected].
Coin. USDC only. OpenRouter’s FAQ and support page name no other coin, so don’t send BTC, ETH or SOL.
Network. OpenRouter doesn’t publish a network list. Coinbase’s developer FAQ says its checkout API “supports USDC on Base,” while its merchant page also lists Ethereum, Polygon, Optimism, Avalanche and Arbitrum. Send only on the network the checkout shows you. On r/openrouter, one user asked which networks USDC top-ups support, and another got an “insufficient funds” error paying from a Phantom wallet.
Fees. 5% flat with no minimum fee, against 5.5% with a $0.80 minimum by card. The crypto fee is the lower of the two, most of all on small top-ups.
Account and ID. You need an OpenRouter account. OpenRouter’s docs don’t mention ID checks for crypto, and Coinbase’s page about its checkouts says “No Coinbase account required.” That doesn’t make it anonymous. Asked on Reddit, one user pointed out that a payment can be traced back to you if the coins came from an exchange that verified your ID. Our guide to paying for AI privately covers this.
Refunds. OpenRouter’s FAQ and terms say “cryptocurrency payments are never refundable.” Unused card credits can be refunded within 24 hours, without the platform fee.
No scripted top-ups. The old API for buying credits through Coinbase Commerce was removed and now returns “410 Gone.” Crypto top-ups work only on the web credits page. Auto top-up charges a saved payment method, and OpenRouter’s docs don’t offer it for crypto.
Other ways to pay
| Payment method | Accepted? |
|---|---|
| Credit and debit cards (Stripe) | Yes, 5.5% fee, $0.80 minimum |
| AliPay | Yes |
| USDC (Coinbase) | Yes, 5% fee |
| Bitcoin, Ether and other coins | No |
| PayPal | Not yet. OpenRouter is “working on integrating PayPal soon” |
| Invoice and purchase orders | Enterprise only |
| Gift cards or codes | No |
| App Store or Google Play | No official OpenRouter app |
Things to know
Credits can expire. OpenRouter “reserves the right to expire unused credits” 365 days after purchase, so buy what you’ll use within a year.
No gifts. Credits are “non-transferable, including between accounts,” and OpenRouter sells no gift cards or codes. At least one prepaid card site advertises cards “to pay at OpenRouter” and claims OpenRouter doesn’t take crypto. It does, and those cards aren’t OpenRouter products.
Apps are third-party. iPhone apps such as RouterChat use your own API key. None of them sells OpenRouter credits.
No VPN tricks. Some models are restricted by country, and OpenRouter’s terms forbid using VPNs or proxies to get around that.
Alternatives you can pay for with crypto
OpenRouter’s own crypto route has no middleman, so if you want API credits, pay OpenRouter directly. If what you’re after is a monthly AI plan for chat or coding rather than an API, these are sold here for USDC, USDT, Bitcoin, Monero and other coins, with our fee on top:
- Poe gives you many AI models in one app, so you still get a choice of models, in a chat app rather than through an API key.
- Claude Pro and Max include Claude Code, Anthropic’s coding agent. See Claude Pro vs Max for how the limits work.
- ChatGPT Plus and Pro include Codex, OpenAI’s coding agent, and image creation.
Poe
Quora
Claude
Anthropic
ChatGPT
OpenAIQuestions people ask
How much does OpenRouter cost?
There’s no subscription. You buy credits from $5, models cost the providers’ list prices, and OpenRouter adds a 5.5% fee by card ($0.80 minimum) or 5% in crypto. A free tier gives 50 requests a day on free models.
What payment methods does OpenRouter accept?
Credit and debit cards, AliPay and USDC through Coinbase. Enterprise customers can also pay by invoice or purchase order.
Which crypto does OpenRouter accept?
USDC only, through a Coinbase checkout on the web credits page. Send it on the network the checkout shows, because OpenRouter doesn’t publish a network list.
Does OpenRouter accept PayPal?
Not yet. OpenRouter’s FAQ says it is “working on integrating PayPal soon.”
Are OpenRouter crypto payments anonymous?
Not fully. You still need an OpenRouter account, and as one Reddit user put it, coins bought on an exchange that verified your ID can be traced back to you.
Can I get a refund on OpenRouter credits?
Not for crypto: those payments are never refundable. Unused card credits can be refunded within 24 hours, but the platform fee isn’t returned.
Sources
- OpenRouter: Pricing, Business plan, FAQ, Support and Terms of Service
- OpenRouter Docs: Crypto API
- OpenRouter: Simplifying our platform fee, updated June 11, 2026, and OpenRouter is joining Stripe, August 19, 2026
- Coinbase: Checkouts API FAQ and Business checkouts
- Reddit r/openrouter: Which networks are supported for USDC top-ups?, Are crypto payments anonymous? and Unable to pay using Phantom
What you can pay for with crypto here
Official plans on your own account. Pick your plan and your account’s country, then pay in USDT, Bitcoin, Monero or another coin.
ChatGPT
OpenAIClaude
Anthropic