OrcaRouter
AI API router for quality-based multi-model routing and zero-markup access
What is OrcaRouter?
OrcaRouter, also known as Orca Router, is an OpenAI-compatible AI API gateway that intelligently routes prompts across OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini, DeepSeek, Qwen, and more than 200 models. It evaluates prompt difficulty and selects an appropriate frontier or open-source model, helping developers reduce costs without blindly sacrificing answer quality. The platform supports Claude API access, GPT-5.5 pricing visibility, Gemini integrations, automatic failover, and direct connections to first-party providers with zero token markup.
Category
Best OrcaRouter use cases by task, role, industry, and platform
These use cases show where OrcaRouter fits best, ranked by fit score before popularity or pricing.
OrcaRouter Pricing Plans
Compare OrcaRouter free options, OrcaRouter paid pricing plans, and usage notes before you choose the best way to use this AI tool in 2026.
Free, Team from $29/mo, Enterprise custom
Free forever with zero token markup, 3 API keys, access to all 200+ models, automatic failover, and a basic dashboard. The site also advertises free credits for eligible verified GitHub developers.
Zero token markup with unlimited API keys, team and budget controls, per-request cost breakdowns, webhook and Slack alerts, and priority support. Provider usage is charged separately at published rates.
Includes SLA commitments, private deployment options, custom routing rules, a 99.99% uptime SLA, dedicated support, audit logs, and compliance features.
Pricing updated:Sep 15, 2026
OrcaRouter AI Features
OrcaRouter Pros and Cons
Pros
- No markup is added to provider token costs
- Routes difficult prompts to frontier models and routine tasks to lower-cost models
- Supports more than 200 models through a single endpoint
- Compatible with existing OpenAI SDKs, model formats, and streaming
- Transparent per-request pricing and provider attribution
- Automatic failover improves production reliability
- Free Hacker tier available
- Team plan includes budget controls, detailed usage breakdowns, and notifications
Limitations
- The Hacker tier is limited to three API keys and a basic dashboard
- The Team plan costs $29 per month before provider usage charges
- Actual usage costs vary depending on the model selected for each request
- Some compliance and enterprise features require contacting sales
- Automatic routing may select different models between requests unless routing is pinned
- The free developer credit offer has eligibility requirements for verified GitHub accounts