Three ways in, three costs
Connecting to each provider directly, a generic relay service, and OpenRouter each carry their own price once you reach production.
Direct connections: a high integration cost
A separate account, top-up, and reconciliation for every provider, and no alternative path when one of them fails.
Generic relay services: an opaque upstream
Unverifiable sources, no way to trace where your content goes, and little assurance of stability or long-term operation.
OpenRouter: a fee on every top-up
Models bill at list price, but deposits carry an extra platform fee of about 5.5%.