AI API Gateways

AI API Gateways at a glance

5 AI API Gateways tools are tracked in this index. 3 of them ship a free plan (OpenRouter, Groq, DashScope). and 2 offer a trial instead (Together AI, Fireworks AI). The lowest published entry price in the category is ¥0.20/1M tokens (~$0.03) (DashScope). Across the 5 scored AI API Gateways entries, the index average is 4.0/5, led by OpenRouter at 4.3/5. Most common tags on this page: API (5 tools), Inference (4 tools), Freemium (3 tools), Fine-Tuning (1 tool). Pricing figures behind these entries were last checked between 2026-09-07 to 2026-09-11; every tool page carries its own check date.

Tools tracked

5

Free plans

3

Trial only

2

Lowest entry price

¥0.20/1M tokens (~$0.03)

Highest rated

OpenRouter 4.3/5

Index average

4.0/5 across 5

AI API Gateways pricing compared

The full set of AI API Gateways entries, with the plan shape each vendor actually publishes:

• OpenRouter Free plan · $0.07/1M tokens 4.3/5
• Groq Free plan · $0.05/1M tokens 4.2/5
• Fireworks AI $1 free credit for new accounts · $0.10/1M tokens 4.0/5
• Together AI $5 free signup credit · $0.05/1M tokens 3.9/5
• DashScope Free plan · ¥0.20/1M tokens (~$0.03) 3.8/5

Every price point above is copied from the vendor's own pricing page and carries the date it was checked on the individual tool page — we do not fill gaps from third-party roundups. Where a figure could not be verified against an official source, the tool page says so instead of guessing.

How to compare AI API Gateways tools

When you compare AI API Gateways tools, the fields that decide the outcome are the ones this index actually stores: whether a free plan exists and what it limits, the published entry price and how it bills (per seat, per month, per workspace), what the trial covers, which of the six index dimensions the tool scores on, when each figure was last checked against the official page, and which alternatives sit in the same category. Each tool page prints those fields with its own verification date, the AI API Gateways comparison pages put two products side by side on the same fields, and the list pages rank the category against the rest of the index — so you can move from a shortlist to a decision without opening a vendor's sales page.

• OpenRouter — OpenRouter is the largest AI model gateway — 374+ models from Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, DeepSeek and more, with free tiers, BYOK support, and unified OpenAI-compatible API Tags: Freemium, Gateway, API. Free plan · $0.07/1M tokens. Index rating 4.3/5. Pricing checked 2026-09-07.
• Groq — Groq runs open-source LLMs on custom LPU chips that deliver 500+ tokens per second — the fastest inference API available, with a generous free tier and no credit card required Tags: Freemium, Inference, API. Free plan · $0.05/1M tokens. Index rating 4.2/5. Pricing checked 2026-09-07.
• Together AI — Together AI is an open-model inference platform with 100+ open-source models, fine-tuning support, and dedicated GPU capacity — built for production AI teams Tags: Usage-based, Inference, API. $5 free signup credit · $0.05/1M tokens. Index rating 3.9/5. Pricing checked 2026-09-07.
• DashScope — DashScope is Alibaba Cloud's AI model service — Qwen, GLM, MiniMax and other Chinese models with OpenAI-compatible API, free credit promotions, and native Chinese support Tags: Freemium, Inference, API. Free plan · ¥0.20/1M tokens (~$0.03). Index rating 3.8/5. Pricing checked 2026-09-07.
• Fireworks AI — Fireworks AI runs 200+ open-source LLMs with a self-serve post-training stack (SFT/LoRA/RL) and 99.9% uptime SLA — pay-per-token serverless, no GPU provisioning, Day-0 support for new open weights Tags: Inference, API, Fine-Tuning, Open-Source. $1 free credit for new accounts · $0.10/1M tokens. Index rating 4.0/5. Pricing checked 2026-09-11.

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