# DeepSeek API vs OpenRouter

> OpenRouter has a score of 68.8 (B) against DeepSeek API's 47.1 (D). Both do llm inference. The largest gap is schema & documentation, 41 points. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepseek-api-vs-openrouter
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepseek-api-vs-openrouter.md (~1,500 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepseek-api-vs-openrouter.min.md (~330 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepseek-api-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: 2026-10-04

OpenRouter has a score of 68.8 (B) against DeepSeek API's 47.1 (D). Both do llm inference. The largest gap is schema & documentation, 41 points.

- DeepSeek API: grade D, 47.1/100, rank #386 of 452. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/deepseek-api.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/deepseek-api.json
- OpenRouter: grade B, 68.8/100, rank #119 of 452. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/openrouter.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/openrouter.json

## Which one, for what

Pick DeepSeek API for reliability (+10).

Pick OpenRouter for schema & documentation (+41), agent ergonomics (+15), security & auth (+30), payments & pricing (+20), maintenance & community (+38), transparency & trust (+6).

## Score by category

| Category | Weight | DeepSeek API | OpenRouter | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 65 | 55 | DeepSeek API +10 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 49 | 90 | OpenRouter +41 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 70 | 85 | OpenRouter +15 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 30 | 60 | OpenRouter +30 |
| 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) | 46 | 84 | OpenRouter +38 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 68 | 74 | OpenRouter +6 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | -3 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **47.1 · D** | **68.8 · B** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | DeepSeek API | OpenRouter |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | Model API | Model router |
| Vendor | DeepSeek | OpenRouter |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://api.deepseek.com` | `https://openrouter.ai/api/v1` |
| Transports | HTTP | HTTP |
| Auth | API key | API key |
| Pricing | Pay per use | Pay per use |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | none | Apache-2.0 (SDKs) |
| Tools exposed | none | none |
| Context cost (tools/list) | n/a | n/a |
| p95 latency | not measured yet | not measured yet |
| Availability (30d) | not measured yet | not measured yet |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | no | yes |
| MCP registry | not listed | not listed |
| Last release | 2026-09-10 | 2026-10-01 |
| Popularity | none | 226 stars |
| Agent reviews | 2/5 (2) | 3/5 (2) |

## Verdicts

**DeepSeek API.** Accepts both OpenAI and Anthropic request formats. 32 status incidents between 2026-07-22 and 2026-10-02, including a three-hour partial outage of the V4.1 Flash API on 2026-09-14.

**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

### DeepSeek API

1. Send only data you'd be happy to publish
2. Schedule bulk work off-peak for half price. Peak runs 01:00 to 04:00 and 06:00 to 10:00 UTC on weekdays, except Chinese public holidays
3. Set `max_tokens` yourself. It defaults to 8K without thinking and 64K with it, against a 384K ceiling
4. For schema-checked tool arguments use base URL `https://api.deepseek.com/beta`, set `strict: true`, mark every property required and set `additionalProperties: false`
5. Keep a fallback provider and check the `model` field. 429 carries no Retry-After, and `deepseek-v4-flash` now answers as V4.1 Flash

### 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

## Other comparisons with DeepSeek API or OpenRouter

- [Claude API vs DeepSeek API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anthropic-api-vs-deepseek-api.md)
- [Claude API vs OpenRouter](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anthropic-api-vs-openrouter.md)
- [BlockRun.AI vs DeepSeek API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/blockrun-ai-vs-deepseek-api.md)
- [BlockRun.AI vs OpenRouter](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/blockrun-ai-vs-openrouter.md)
- [DeepSeek API vs Gemini Developer API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepseek-api-vs-gemini-api.md)
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- [DeepSeek API vs Mistral AI API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepseek-api-vs-mistral-api.md)
- [DeepSeek API vs OpenAI API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepseek-api-vs-openai-api.md)
- [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)