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ModelAPI vs OpenRouter
OpenRouter is the broader catalog. ModelAPI is the better fit if you need WeChat/Alipay, language/image/video models on one key, and a 5% top-up fee instead of per-request platform complexity.
Tested 2026-08-16. Public docs and list prices compared on 2026-08-16. Latency is from ModelAPI /status probes, not a head-to-head lab run against OpenRouter.
| Feature | ModelAPI | OpenRouter |
|---|---|---|
| Public model catalog | Callable listed IDs | 400+ models |
| Fee model | 0% token markup + 5% top-up | ~5.5% credit fee |
| WeChat / Alipay | Yes | Limited / card-first |
| Chinese frontier models | DeepSeek, Qwen, Kimi, GLM | Yes, via many providers |
| OpenAI-compatible | Yes | Yes |
Where OpenRouter is ahead
- OpenRouter lists 400+ models and 70+ providers — our public catalog is the callable ID list on /models, not an inflated 400+ claim.
- OpenRouter has a more mature privacy-routing and provider-sorting UI.
- OpenRouter is more widely referenced in open-source agent templates.
Why teams pick ModelAPI
- WeChat Pay, Alipay, cards, PayPal, and USDT on one account.
- 0% per-token markup; 5% charged once at top-up (OpenRouter documents a ~5.5% credit fee).
- Language, image, and video models (Claude, GPT, DeepSeek, Qwen, and media models) on the same OpenAI-compatible key.
- Singapore PoP is live for APAC; US East is the primary gateway.