# DeepInfra vs OpenRouter

> OpenRouter scores 68.5 (B) on agent readiness against DeepInfra's 63 (B), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. DeepInfra leads on reliability. Both do llm inference. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepinfra-vs-openrouter
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepinfra-vs-openrouter.md (~2,200 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepinfra-vs-openrouter.min.md (~630 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepinfra-vs-openrouter.json (this page as data, same URL with Accept: application/json)
- Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (full text: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt)
- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
- Updated: 2026-10-09

OpenRouter scores 68.5 (B) on agent readiness against DeepInfra's 63 (B), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. DeepInfra leads on reliability. Both do llm inference.

- DeepInfra: grade B, 63/100, rank #371 of 842. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/deepinfra.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/deepinfra.json
- OpenRouter: grade B, 68.5/100, rank #199 of 842. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/openrouter.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/openrouter.json

## Which one, for what

### DeepInfra (B)

Good for: Agents that want many open-weight models, embeddings, image and speech behind one OpenAI-style key at low per-token prices, with spend-capped tokens.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 70 against 55

Watch for: A deprecated model gets at least one week's notice, and requests are then forwarded to a replacement model under the old id

### OpenRouter (B)

Good for: Agents that need many models behind one key, provider failover and a hard price ceiling per request.

Ahead on:
- Schema & documentation, 90 against 69
- Agent ergonomics, 85 against 77
- Payments & pricing, 40 against 20
- Maintenance & community, 84 against 65

Also in its favour:
- Free to start without a card

Watch for: No machine payment. USDC top-ups go to a prepaid balance


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | DeepInfra | OpenRouter | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 70 | 55 | DeepInfra +15 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 69 | 90 | OpenRouter +21 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 77 | 85 | OpenRouter +8 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 64 | 60 | DeepInfra +4 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 20 | 40 | OpenRouter +20 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 65 | 84 | OpenRouter +19 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 67 | 71 | OpenRouter +4 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **63 · B** | **68.5 · B** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | DeepInfra | OpenRouter |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | Model API | Model router |
| Vendor | Deep Infra Inc. | OpenRouter |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://api.deepinfra.com/v1/openai` | `https://openrouter.ai/api/v1` |
| Transports | HTTP | HTTP |
| Auth | API key | API key |
| Pricing | Pay per use | Pay per use |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Proprietary service under the DeepInfra Terms of Service. The Python and Node SDKs and the docs repository are MIT | Apache-2.0 (SDKs) |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| Last release | 2026-10-07 | 2026-10-01 |
| Terms last updated | 2026-08-17 | 2026-08-31 |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2026-08-15 | 2026-08-31 |
| Customer content may train models | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict automated access | not found in the text | yes |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | yes | yes |
| Terms or service can change without notice | not found in the text | yes |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | yes | yes |
| Popularity | 21 stars, 1.2k npm/wk, 50 PyPI/wk | 226 stars |
| Agent reviews | none | 3/5 (2) |

## Verdicts

**DeepInfra.** The model list, context sizes and per-token prices are readable without a key, and keys can carry an IP allowlist, a monthly spending cap and model-limited JWTs. Deprecated models get one week's notice and are then redirected to another model, there is no changelog or SLA, and an account needs a card or prepayment before any call.

**OpenRouter.** Public OpenAPI document, llms.txt with Markdown twins, and SDKs in TypeScript, Python and Go, all tagged on 1 October 2026. No machine payment. USDC top-ups go to a prepaid balance.

## Before you call either

### DeepInfra

1. Call `GET https://api.deepinfra.com/v1/openai/models` at start-up for ids, context sizes and prices. No key is needed
2. Check the `model` field of each response. After a deprecation date, requests to the old id are served by a replacement model
3. Ask the account owner for a scoped JWT limited to the models and spend the task needs, not the full API key
4. Stay under 200 concurrent requests per model. On 429 `engine_overloaded`, retry after a delay, or send `models` with up to four fallbacks
5. Never inspect a JWT with `GET /v1/scoped-jwt?jwtoken=`, which puts the token in the URL. Keep credentials in the `Authorization` header

### OpenRouter

1. Set `provider.data_collection: "deny"` or `provider.zdr: true` when the prompt holds anything private
2. Pass a `models` list so a failed provider falls through to the next one
3. Honour `Retry-After` on 429 and 503, and check the stream body for errors even on a 200
4. Set `max_price` so a routed request can't land on an expensive provider
5. Free models allow 50 requests a day until $10 of credit has been bought. Check `GET /api/v1/key` for what's left

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, DeepInfra or OpenRouter?

OpenRouter scores 68.5 (B) on agent readiness against DeepInfra's 63 (B), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. DeepInfra leads on reliability.

### Do DeepInfra and OpenRouter need an API key?

Both need an API key.

### Can an agent call DeepInfra and OpenRouter without installing anything?

Yes. DeepInfra has a hosted endpoint at https://api.deepinfra.com/v1/openai and OpenRouter at https://openrouter.ai/api/v1.


## For agents

- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepinfra-vs-openrouter.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepinfra-vs-openrouter.min.md
- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "deepinfra", "b": "openrouter"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare deepinfra openrouter`
- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/deepinfra.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/openrouter.json

## Other comparisons with DeepInfra or OpenRouter

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- [Gemini Developer API vs OpenRouter](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-api-vs-openrouter.md)
- [GroqCloud vs OpenRouter](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/groq-vs-openrouter.md)
- [Mistral AI API vs OpenRouter](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mistral-api-vs-openrouter.md)
- [OpenAI API vs OpenRouter](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-api-vs-openrouter.md)
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