OpenRouter is already the entrenched go-to router tbh. There's competitors (Vercel) but they're already well known. Stripe can also make them more competitive because they can waive / profit off the transaction cost. Considering stripe takes like a 3% fee, and the openrouter markup is 5%, that's a pretty big boost.

Now is that enough revenue to earn back 7B.... I'm not too sure. I guess they're betting realy big that these sorts of model routers will gain explosive token usage in the future

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aleqs 2 hours ago | parent | next [-]

I don't get the 'transaction fee reduction' arguments. Yeah they can reduce the fee, which in turn reduces profit margin... any other product/service in a similar position can do the same... it's not some sort of free win

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kridsdale1 2 hours ago | parent [-]

This was the same thinking behind Vanguard funds.

	▲	aleqs an hour ago \| parent [-]
		Not the same at all.

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scrollop 3 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

And trustedrouter which is a bit cheaper and more private

	▲	johndough 3 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Doesn't TrustedRouter cost more than OpenRouter? (5.5% markup vs 5%) Also, TrustedRouter's website is full of slop, which does not inspire much confidence.