OrcaRouter is an AI gateway that routes prompts across more than 200 language models through a single OpenAI-compatible endpoint. It evaluates each request at runtime, selects the most suitable model based on quality and cost targets, and provides built-in guardrails, an agent firewall, and observability tooling. The platform charges zero token markup on all tiers.

How does OrcaRouter pricing work?

OrcaRouter charges the upstream provider's published per-token rate with no per-token markup added. Revenue comes from optional paid subscriptions rather than inflating token costs. The free Hacker tier provides the full gateway including 200+ models, automatic failover, and basic observability. The Team tier costs $499 per month and adds up to 10 seats, compliance enforcement, audit reporting, unlimited API keys, and priority support. Enterprise plans offer private or on-premise deployment, a 99.99% uptime SLA, dedicated infrastructure, and custom pricing.

What models are available through OrcaRouter?

OrcaRouter provides access to more than 200 models from providers including OpenAI, Anthropic, Google Gemini, DeepSeek, xAI Grok, Alibaba Qwen, Moonshot Kimi, MiniMax, and others. The model catalog covers both frontier and open-source options. All models are accessible through a single OpenAI-compatible endpoint, and the platform also exposes native Anthropic and Google Gemini protocol surfaces for direct access.

How does the adaptive routing work?

Each prompt is embedded and scored in real time against available models. A continuously learning model routes requests to the most suitable provider based on the workspace's configured objective. Users can choose between routing modes such as Cheapest, Balanced, Quality, and Adaptive. The router leads the public RouterArena leaderboard at 75.5% accuracy as of June 2026, ahead of GPT-5, Azure, Martian, and NotDiamond.

How does OrcaRouter handle provider outages?

When an upstream provider rate-limits a request or returns a 5xx error, OrcaRouter automatically fails over to a healthy model from its pool of 200+ options. This failover completes in under 50 milliseconds, before the client would see a timeout. The process is transparent to the end user and does not require any client-side retry logic.

What security and governance features are included?

OrcaRouter includes guardrails for prompt injection detection, sensitive data blocking, and topic enforcement on every request. The agent firewall provides API key governance and model access controls that restrict which models and capabilities each agent or service can reach. All plans run behind the same guardrails and agent firewall. Team and Enterprise tiers add compliance enforcement and audit reporting for regulatory requirements.

What is the difference between Hacker, Team, and Enterprise tiers?

The Hacker tier is free and includes the full gateway with 200+ models, automatic failover, basic observability, and a single workspace. The Team tier at $499 per month adds up to 10 team seats, unlimited API keys, compliance enforcement and reporting, and priority support. Enterprise includes everything in Team plus private or on-premise deployment, a 99.99% uptime SLA, dedicated infrastructure, and dedicated support. No credit card is required to start on the Hacker tier.

OrcaRouter Core Features

OrcaRouter is an AI gateway that routes prompts to 200+ models with zero markup. Features adaptive routing, guardrails, agent firewall, and observability.

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Core Features of OrcaRouter

Adaptive Smart Routing

OrcaRouter grades every prompt by embedding and routing it through a model that learns online from real traffic, sending each request to the best-fit model automatically.

Routing Accuracy Leader

The router leads the public RouterArena leaderboard at 75.5% accuracy as of June 2026, ahead of GPT-5, Azure, Martian, and NotDiamond.

Zero Token Markup

All 200+ models are billed at the upstream provider's published rate with no token markup added, making routing free on every tier.

200+ Models via One Endpoint

A single OpenAI-compatible endpoint provides access to 200+ models from providers including Anthropic, Google, Alibaba Cloud, and Moonshot.

Automatic Failover

When a provider rate-limits or returns a 5xx error, OrcaRouter retries against a healthy model across 200+ options in under 50 milliseconds before the response starts.

Configurable Routing Objectives

Workspaces can be configured with routing modes including Cheapest, Balanced, Quality, and Adaptive, each optimizing for a different priority.

Guardrails

Prompt injection detection, sensitive data blocking, and topic enforcement policies run on every request to prevent misuse and data leakage.

Agent Firewall

API key governance and model access controls restrict which models and capabilities each agent or service can reach through the gateway.

Observability

A built-in dashboard tracks request volume, latency, cost, model usage, and failure rates across all routed traffic.

Routing as Code

Routing logic can be expressed as version-controlled YAML with CEL expressions, deployed in seconds without any client-side changes or redeploys.

Load Balancing

Traffic is distributed across providers and models to optimize for cost, latency, and availability while preventing any single upstream from being overloaded.

Use Cases of OrcaRouter

[Startups]: Access 200+ LLMs through one endpoint without managing multiple API keys or provider integrations.
[Engineering teams]: Route prompts to the optimal model automatically, balancing quality and cost with zero manual tuning.
[Enterprise security teams]: Enforce guardrails and agent firewall policies across all AI usage from a centralized governance layer.
[Operations teams]: Maintain service continuity with automatic sub-50ms failover when any upstream provider rate-limits or goes down.
[Finance teams]: Reduce AI spending by up to 40% through intelligent routing that picks the cheapest model meeting quality requirements.

More Information

OrcaRouter Overview Official Tweets What is OrcaRouter FAQs of OrcaRouter

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OrcaRouter Core Features

Core Features of OrcaRouter

Adaptive Smart Routing

Routing Accuracy Leader

Zero Token Markup

200+ Models via One Endpoint

Automatic Failover

Configurable Routing Objectives

Guardrails

Agent Firewall

Observability

Routing as Code

Load Balancing

Use Cases of OrcaRouter

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