OpenRouter API key setup

Get your key

1. Open the OpenRouter API keys page: openrouter.ai/keys
2. Create an account and generate an API key.
3. Paste it into the Dracon BYOK provider keys, stored encrypted (AES-256-GCM), used browser-direct, works in every Dracon tool.

Get the key and test it

1. Open the OpenRouter API keys page: openrouter.ai/keys Create a key and copy the secret straight away.
2. Point your client at this provider's base URL: https://openrouter.ai/api/v1 It speaks the OpenAI-compatible shape, so an OpenAI SDK client works against it with no adapter: only the base URL and the key change.
3. Prove the endpoint answers before you trust it. Send one call with no Authorization header: a live endpoint answers 401 Unauthorized, because it is waiting for a bearer key. The wording of that error differs by provider (some say invalid_api_key, others incorrect_api_key or Token is invalid), so read the 401 as the signal, not the error text.
4. Paste the key into the Dracon BYOK provider keys ; stored encrypted, used browser-direct, no relay.
5. Compare other provider plans when this subscription does not match your usage or budget.

Test the key

Both examples read the key from the OPENROUTER_API_KEY environment variable, so the key stays out of the command line.

export OPENROUTER_API_KEY="<YOUR_API_KEY>"

curl https://openrouter.ai/api/v1/chat/completions \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $OPENROUTER_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"model":"google/gemini-2.5-flash","messages":[{"role":"user","content":"hi"}]}'

import os
from openai import OpenAI

# export OPENROUTER_API_KEY="<YOUR_API_KEY>" first
client = OpenAI(
    api_key=os.environ["OPENROUTER_API_KEY"],
    base_url="https://openrouter.ai/api/v1",
)
resp = client.chat.completions.create(
    model="google/gemini-2.5-flash",
    messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "hi"}],
)
print(resp.choices[0].message.content)

Free tier

Yes. OpenRouter's free tier gives you 50 req/day of free models with no card. Add $10 in PAYG credits to unlock 1,000 req/day of free models. The free model pool rotates, so check the provider's pricing page for current specifics. no credit card required

Rate limits: 50 req/day on the base free tier; $10 in PAYG credits unlocks 1,000 req/day of free models (model pool rotates)

Connection details

Base URL

https://openrouter.ai/api/v1

API shape

OpenAI-compatible

Env var

OPENROUTER_API_KEY

Models

google/gemini-2.5-flash, deepseek/deepseek-chat-v3-0324, meta-llama/llama-3.3-70b-instruct

Model lineup

Llama 3.3 70B, Mistral Large, Qwen 3 235B, DeepSeek V3, Claude 3.5 Sonnet (paid)

Our verdicts on this kind of provider

Independent comparisons we keep current as pricing and free tiers shift. A guide is setup; a verdict is whether it's worth setting up.

• The cheapest way to run Claude right now: every route, $0–$200
• What bring-your-own-key actually costs: the real math
• 22 of the 45 AI providers have a free tier. Only 7 are actually useful.