$5 free credits when you sign up
Vs OpenRouter

Same models, lower fees, every enterprise feature included.

A drop-in OpenAI-compatible gateway with 0% platform fee on Tier 3 annual. Guardrails, RBAC, SSO, audit logs, and budgets ship on every plan — no premium tier, no add-ons. Every claim below about OpenRouter cites its public docs and is dated.

Start free — no credit cardBook a demo
vs · openrouter · verified May 2026

What you get on day one

Platform fee · Tier 3 annual0%
Platform fee · pay-as-you-go4%
Guardrails (PII, injection)Built-in
SSO / SAML / Audit logsEvery tier
Models live now20+
Uptime SLA99.9%
Tier 3 · 0%OpenAI-compatibleGDPRDPA
Tier 3 platform fee
0%

Annual prepay ($1,200+/yr) — keep 100% of credits

Pay-as-you-go fee
4%

No commitment, every feature still included

Migrate in
< 5 min

Same OpenAI-compatible base URL + one key

Uptime SLA
99.9%

Contractual — see /legal/sla

Compliance posture — stated honestly, not overclaimed

  • SOC 2 Type IIIn progress
  • ISO/IEC 27001In progress
  • GDPRActive
  • HIPAAAvailable
  • PCI DSSAvailable
  • Data residencyActive

Our underlying infrastructure (Cloud Run, Supabase) is SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001 certified. Nemo Router's own SOC 2 Type II audit is in progress. Full detail and downloadable artifacts live on the Trust Center.

Side by side

The capability matrix

Both APIs are OpenAI-compatible. The difference is what ships included on day one — and what stays free as you scale. Every marker is sourced below.

Comparison · sources verified May 2026

CapabilityNemo RouterOpenRouter
Platform feeMarkup added on top of provider cost
0 % – 4 %0 % – 4 %5
Published feePublished fee1
Pricing modelHow the gateway is priced
Credit + tiered feeCredit + tiered fee5
Credit + per-request feeCredit + per-request fee1
Models live todayCounts come from the live router, never hardcoded
20+20+6
300+300+6
OpenAI-compatible APIDrop-in base URL for existing clients
Included
Included
Provider keys managed for youWho holds the OpenAI / Anthropic / Google credentials
Included
Included
Built-in guardrailsPII redaction, prompt-injection detection, content filter
Included
Not available3
Role-based team managementOwner / admin / member / viewer
Included
Not available2
Per-team & per-key budgetsHard spend caps enforced before the request leaves
Included
Not available2
SSO / SAML
Included5
Not available2
Audit logsImmutable record of admin & key actions
Included
Not available2
Prompt managementVersioned templates with A/B variants
Included
Not available3
Activity / request logs
Included
Included3
Cost trackingPer-key, per-team, real time
Per-key, real timePer-key, real time5
Per-key usagePer-key usage3
Contractual uptime SLA
99.9 %99.9 %5
Not publishedNot published4
IncludedNot availableNot applicablenSourced footnote below

Sources & methodology

Competitor rows reflect each vendor's publicly documented plans and docs as last checked in May 2026; each cell links the specific source. Where a competitor's pricing or plan structure is not public, the cell describes the structure rather than quoting a figure — we never invent competitor pricing. Found something out of date? Email sales@nemorouter.ai and we'll correct it.

  1. OpenRouter applies a fee on credit purchases plus a per-request fee; pay-as-you-go inference is billed at provider list price with the platform fee layered on top. The exact percentage depends on payment method and is published, not estimated by us. OpenRouter pay-as-you-go · OpenRouter pricing & FAQ · verified May 2026
  2. OpenRouter is a public, individual-account gateway. It does not publish role-based team management (owner/admin/member/viewer), per-team budgets, or SSO/SAML on its docs. OpenRouter (all accounts) · OpenRouter docs · verified May 2026
  3. OpenRouter ships activity logs and per-key usage analytics. It does not document content-safety guardrails (PII redaction, prompt-injection detection) run in the request path. OpenRouter (all accounts) · OpenRouter docs · verified May 2026
  4. OpenRouter publishes per-model availability and routing behavior but does not publish a contractual uptime SLA percentage on its site. OpenRouter (all accounts) · OpenRouter site · verified May 2026
  5. Nemo platform fee is charged on top of provider cost, never deducted from purchased credits. 4 % on Tier 1 pay-as-you-go, 2 % on Tier 2 monthly, 0 % on Tier 3 annual prepay. Nemo Router pricing · Nemo Router pricing page · verified May 2026
  6. 18 models are live today on Google Vertex AI; Anthropic, OpenAI, and AWS Bedrock are on the public roadmap. OpenRouter aggregates a far larger published catalog today. Nemo Router model catalog · Nemo Router /models · verified May 2026
Feature by feature

The honest, line-by-line breakdown

Eight capabilities, compared in plain English — including the one where OpenRouter is genuinely ahead. Drop this straight into an internal RFP.

Pricing & platform fee1

Edge: Nemo Router

Nemo Router

A platform fee charged on top of provider cost — 4% pay-as-you-go (Tier 1), 2% on Tier 2 monthly, 0% on Tier 3 annual prepay. Credits are the product: your tier lowers the fee added on top, it is never deducted from the credits you bought.

OpenRouter

OpenRouter applies a published fee on credit purchases plus a per-request fee; inference itself bills at provider list price. The fee is documented on its FAQ — we cite that page rather than estimate a range.

Bottom line: On a steady monthly spend, the 0% Tier 3 fee is the lowest total cost. Below a commitment, the 4% pay-as-you-go fee is competitive with OpenRouter and still unlocks every feature.

Model & provider catalog6

Edge: competitor

Nemo Router

18 models live today on Google Vertex AI (Gemini, Imagen, Veo, embeddings). Anthropic, OpenAI, and AWS Bedrock are on the public roadmap. We publish only what is actually routable.

OpenRouter

OpenRouter aggregates a much larger catalog today — hundreds of models across many providers. Catalog breadth is a genuine OpenRouter strength.

Bottom line: If raw model count is your single deciding factor today, OpenRouter is broader. If you want managed keys, guardrails, and team controls around a focused, growing catalog, Nemo wins.

Guardrails & content safety3

Edge: Nemo Router

Nemo Router

Content filtering, PII detection/redaction, and prompt-injection detection run in the request path on every tier — pre-call, during-call, and post-call. Scope them per org, per team, or per key. Guardrail logs are included.

OpenRouter

OpenRouter does not document content-safety guardrails run in the request path. Teams that need PII redaction or injection defense add a separate tool.

Bottom line: If safety/governance is a requirement, this is a clear gap on OpenRouter — and on Nemo it costs nothing extra on any tier.

Teams, roles & budgets2

Edge: Nemo Router

Nemo Router

Org → team → member hierarchy with four roles (owner / admin / member / viewer). Per-team and per-key budgets are hard caps enforced before a request leaves the gateway. Tenant isolation is enforced in Postgres with row-level security.

OpenRouter

OpenRouter is a public, individual-account gateway. It does not publish role-based team management or per-team budget controls.

Bottom line: For anything beyond a single developer, real RBAC and enforced budgets are the difference between a hobby key and production governance.

Prompt management & A/B tests3

Edge: Nemo Router

Nemo Router

Versioned prompt templates with deterministic A/B variants and evals — opt in per request via a template ID, no client redeploy. Included on every tier.

OpenRouter

OpenRouter does not document a prompt management or A/B testing product. Prompt versioning lives in your own codebase or a third tool.

Bottom line: Teams iterating on prompts in production get versioning, traffic splitting, and evals built into the gateway instead of bolted on.

Provider keys & the no-BYOK model2

Roughly even

Nemo Router

We hold every provider credential. You get one NEMOROUTER_API_KEY and never provision, rotate, or audit an upstream provider account.

OpenRouter

OpenRouter also manages provider keys for you — this is shared ground. Both gateways give you one key over many models.

Bottom line: Even here: both products spare you provider-account management. Nemo additionally scopes that one key with per-key budgets and guardrails.

Enterprise compliance & SSO2

Edge: Nemo Router

Nemo Router

SSO/SAML (Okta, Azure AD, Google Workspace), immutable audit logs, GDPR with a DPA, and data-residency controls — all on every tier. SOC 2: our underlying infrastructure (Cloud Run, Supabase) is SOC 2 Type II certified; our own Type II audit is in progress.

OpenRouter

OpenRouter does not publish SSO/SAML, audit logging, or an enterprise compliance program on its docs.

Bottom line: For a procurement or security review, Nemo gives you SSO, audit logs, and a DPA on day one — and we state the SOC 2 status honestly rather than claiming a finished certification.

Uptime, observability & cost tracking4

Edge: Nemo Router

Nemo Router

A contractual 99.9% uptime SLA (see /legal/sla), real-time per-key cost tracking, request logs, latency percentiles, and callbacks to Langfuse / Datadog / S3 / Slack.

OpenRouter

OpenRouter ships activity logs and per-key usage analytics but does not publish a contractual uptime SLA percentage on its site.

Bottom line: Both give you usage visibility. Nemo additionally puts an uptime number in writing and forwards logs to your existing observability stack.

Why teams switch

Four reasons OpenRouter customers move to Nemo Router

Every product feature — guardrails, prompt management, A/B tests, evals, observability, RBAC, SSO/SAML, audit logs, per-team budgets, and priority support — ships on every tier. Tiers differ on exactly two axes: the platform-fee percentage (4 % / 2 % / 0 %) and the RPM/TPM guarantee. Nothing else is gated.

A platform fee that rewards commitment

OpenRouter charges a published fee on every call. Nemo Router charges 4% pay-as-you-go, 2% on Tier 2 monthly, and 0% on Tier 3 annual prepay. The fee is always on top of provider cost — never carved out of your credits.

  • Tier 3 annual: 0% on every model
  • Tier 2 monthly: 2%
  • Pay-as-you-go: 4% — still every feature

Built-in guardrails on every tier

Content filtering, PII detection, and prompt-injection protection run in the request path at zero extra cost. Configure per org, team, or key. OpenRouter does not document guardrail functionality.

  • Pre-call, during-call, post-call modes
  • Per-key / per-team / per-org scoping
  • Guardrail logs included

Real team management

Create teams, assign roles (owner / admin / member / viewer), set per-team budget caps, and track usage per member. OpenRouter issues individual keys without team-level controls.

  • 4 roles, org → team → member
  • Email invites with role assignment
  • RLS-enforced tenant isolation

Compliance posture stated honestly

SSO/SAML, audit logging, GDPR with a DPA, and data-residency controls on every tier. Our infrastructure is SOC 2 Type II certified; our own Type II audit is in progress — we say so rather than overclaim.

  • SSO/SAML on every tier
  • GDPR + DPA + data residency
  • Immutable audit trail
Migration

Switch in under 5 minutes

Nemo Router uses the same OpenAI-compatible API format as OpenRouter. Change two lines and your existing application works without modification.

1

Sign up at nemorouter.ai

Free account, no credit card required. Takes 30 seconds.

2

Replace base_url and api_key

Two lines of code. Same OpenAI-compatible SDK, same format.

3

Same call shape, lower fees

Your existing code works without modification. Start saving immediately.

migration.py · OpenAI Python SDK
# Before (OpenRouter)
client = OpenAI(
    base_url="https://openrouter.ai/api/v1",
    api_key="or-..."
)

# After (Nemo Router — Tier 3: 0% platform fee)
client = OpenAI(
    base_url="https://api.nemorouter.ai/v1",
    api_key=os.environ["NEMOROUTER_API_KEY"],
)

Works with the OpenAI Python SDK, Node.js SDK, and any OpenAI-compatible client. Two lines change.

Guarantees

Two things we will put in writing

Transparent, passed-through provider pricing

Provider model prices are passed through at list — only the platform fee (4% / 2% / 0%) sits on top. No opaque markup baked into per-token rates.

A contractual uptime SLA

99.9% uptime, documented at /legal/sla — not a best-effort statement.

What customers ask

Frequently asked questions

Common questions about switching from OpenRouter to Nemo Router.

Drop-in · 5-minute migration

Ready to switch from OpenRouter?

Free Tier 1 account, no credit card. Every feature included from day one — guardrails, prompts, A/B tests, team management, SSO, audit logs.

Start free — no credit cardBook a demo

Already have an account? sales@nemorouter.ai for assisted migration.99.9% SLA