A question on OpenRouter - is it just a place to consolidate the various AI models through one billing platform, or does it do more than that? And are the costs slightly more as they take a cut in between?
You can easily switch models, use the cheapest provider (especially for open models), and not have to reach certain "tiers" to get access to limits like you might on OpenAI/Anthropic's direct offerings.
> And are the costs slightly more as they take a cut in between?
5% more, you buy credits upfront and pay 5% extra. Aside from that you pay the normal prices listed (which have always matched the direct providers as well AFAIK).
Depending on the way how the context grows, it can matter quite a bit!