TokelyTHE SHORT ANSWER
OpenRouter and Tokely both offer access to multiple AI models, but the useful comparison is your required feature set and total workload cost. In the Claude Sonnet 5.5 example below, Tokely’s published standard-route token rates are 25% lower than the listed OpenRouter rates before platform fees. That result does not establish a universal discount across all models or equivalent delivery performance.
Prices and documentation checked October 15, 2026.
How do the published Sonnet 5.5 rates compare?
OpenRouter lists Claude Sonnet 5.5 at $2 per million input tokens and $10 per million output tokens for the standard routes shown on its model page. OpenRouter Sonnet 5.5.
Tokely publishes $1.50 input and $7.50 output for the same named model. Tokely Sonnet 5.5.
For 1 million uncached input tokens and 250,000 output tokens, these rates produce $4.50 on OpenRouter and $3.375 on Tokely. The difference is $1.125, or 25% of the OpenRouter token subtotal. This is a calculation from published rates, not a billed benchmark.
The example excludes cache writes and reads, taxes, platform fees, special service tiers and route-dependent changes. Tokely documents that a more expensive selected or fallback supplier can increase the charge. Tokely routing.
What about platform fees?
OpenRouter’s pricing page lists a 5.5% Standard platform fee at the check date. Confirm the applicable checkout or billing basis before adding it to a forecast. BYOK has separate terms. OpenRouter pricing.
Tokely describes usage-based access without a required subscription. Check its current billing and payment terms for the transaction you intend to make. Comparing token rates alone is useful, but it is not a complete cash-cost comparison. Tokely pricing.
How do routing features compare?
OpenRouter documents provider preferences and routing controls, with eligibility and account features governed by its current product terms. OpenRouter provider routing.
Tokely documents supplier-routing modes and model-specific capability requirements. Their controls are not necessarily interchangeable. Translate the policy your application needs instead of copying a vendor-specific parameter into another API.
Will the same SDK work?
For supported OpenAI-compatible endpoints, migration typically involves the base URL, credential and model ID. Provider-specific extensions, stored state and endpoint coverage require separate review. Tokely also documents a Messages endpoint for Claude Code. Tokely migration and Claude Code guide.
Which should you choose?
Keep OpenRouter on the shortlist if its documented controls or coverage are important to your workflow. Consider Tokely when its supported contract and matched workload pricing fit your needs. Evaluate latency and quality on the same tasks before making a performance claim.
Use Tokely’s calculator with your input, output and cache assumptions, then compare the result with your current OpenRouter usage records.