OpenRouter vs Replicate: tool pricing compared
Updated 2026-11-10 · listed A to Z, not ranked
OpenRouter is a single OpenAI-compatible API for hundreds of language models from many providers. Its pricing has two parts: the model’s own token price, and OpenRouter’s fee, which is charged when you buy credits rather than on each request.
Replicate runs open-source and proprietary machine learning models through an API. Some public models bill by input and output (per image, per token, per second of video); most bill by the time they run on a given hardware type, priced per second.
Listed A to Z, from openrouter.ai and replicate.com. Every figure below is quoted from those pages.
- Main price table
- Standard (pay as you go), Business (pay as you go), Enterprise
- Free option
- Standard (pay as you go): 5.5% on credit purchases
- Published prices
- Model tokens at provider list price, a 5.5% (Standard) or 8% (Business) fee on credit purchases, BYOK and USDC.
- Main price table
- black-forest-labs/flux-1.1-pro, black-forest-labs/flux-dev, black-forest-labs/flux-schnell, ideogram-ai/ideogram-v3-quality, deepseek-ai/deepseek-r1, wavespeedai/wan-2.1-i2v-720p
- Free option
- None in the published plan table
- Published prices
- Public models billed per output (FLUX 1.1 Pro $0.04/image) or per second of hardware (T4 $0.81/hr, L40S $3.51/hr, A100 $5.04/hr, H100 $5.49/hr).
How we checked: Prices quoted from each official pricing page: OpenRouter checked Nov 10, 2026, Replicate checked Nov 10, 2026. Taxes, usage overages and promotions can change what you pay; confirm with each provider before you buy.
How they compare
- Main price table. OpenRouter lists 3 entries (Standard (pay as you go), Business (pay as you go), Enterprise); Replicate lists 6 (black-forest-labs/flux-1.1-pro, black-forest-labs/flux-dev, black-forest-labs/flux-schnell, ideogram-ai/ideogram-v3-quality, deepseek-ai/deepseek-r1, wavespeedai/wan-2.1-i2v-720p).
- Free option. OpenRouter: Standard (pay as you go): 5.5% on credit purchases. Replicate: none in the published plan table.
- How prices are quoted. OpenRouter: “Plans and fees”. Replicate: “Example public models (billed by output)”.
OpenRouter plans and prices
| Plan | Fee | How you pay | Notable limits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard (pay as you go) | 5.5% on credit purchases | Credit and debit cards, AliPay, crypto (USDC) | Rate limits pass through from the providers; 5 workspaces |
| Business (pay as you go) | 8% on credit purchases | Credit and debit cards, AliPay, crypto (USDC) | Adds EU and US in-region routing, advanced notifications, 1,000 workspaces |
| Enterprise | Set by contract; fee discounts available | Invoicing and purchase orders | SSO/SAML, contractual SLAs, dedicated support |
| Plan | Included BYOK usage | Above the allowance |
|---|---|---|
| Standard and Business | $25,000 of list-price inference per month with no OpenRouter fee | 5% of what the same request would cost at list price on OpenRouter, deducted from credits |
| Enterprise | Custom | Custom |
With BYOK, the model provider bills you for inference directly.
From openrouter.ai, checked Nov 10, 2026. Full breakdown: OpenRouter pricing.
Replicate plans and prices
| Model | Price |
|---|---|
| black-forest-labs/flux-1.1-pro | $0.04 per output image |
| black-forest-labs/flux-dev | $0.025 per output image |
| black-forest-labs/flux-schnell | $3.00 per thousand output images |
| ideogram-ai/ideogram-v3-quality | $0.09 per output image |
| deepseek-ai/deepseek-r1 | $3.75 per million input tokens; $0.01 per thousand output tokens |
| wavespeedai/wan-2.1-i2v-720p | $0.25 per second of output video |
| Hardware | Per second | Per hour | GPU RAM |
|---|---|---|---|
| CPU (Small) | $0.000025 | $0.09 | — |
| CPU | $0.000100 | $0.36 | — |
| Nvidia T4 | $0.000225 | $0.81 | 16GB |
| Nvidia L40S | $0.000975 | $3.51 | 48GB |
| Nvidia A100 (80GB) | $0.001400 | $5.04 | 80GB |
| Nvidia H100 | $0.001525 | $5.49 | 80GB |
| 8x Nvidia H100 | $0.012200 | $43.92 | 640GB |
H200 and multi-GPU A100/H100/L40S capacity is listed with committed spend contracts. Volume discounts and enterprise support are available.
From replicate.com, checked Nov 10, 2026. Full breakdown: Replicate pricing.
FAQ
How much does OpenRouter cost?
Model tokens at provider list price, a 5.5% (Standard) or 8% (Business) fee on credit purchases, BYOK and USDC. (checked Nov 10, 2026).
How much does Replicate cost?
Public models billed per output (FLUX 1.1 Pro $0.04/image) or per second of hardware (T4 $0.81/hr, L40S $3.51/hr, A100 $5.04/hr, H100 $5.49/hr). (checked Nov 10, 2026).
Do OpenRouter and Replicate have a free option?
OpenRouter: Standard (pay as you go): 5.5% on credit purchases. Replicate: none in the published plan table.
Which is better, OpenRouter or Replicate?
We do not pick a winner. The two price and package their products differently; the tables above quote each official pricing page so you can match a plan to your own usage.
Where do these prices come from?
Each vendor's own pricing page: openrouter.ai (checked Nov 10, 2026) and replicate.com (checked Nov 10, 2026). Prices change; confirm on the vendor's page before you buy.
Sources (official pages, read 2026-11-10)
Spot something out of date? Email hello@youraitools.co and we’ll fix it.