Braintrust vs OpenRouter Pricing (2026)
How do these two stack up on price? Here's what each one costs, what you get, and where the value sits.
| Braintrust | OpenRouter | |
|---|---|---|
| Starts at | $249/mo | Custom |
| Number of plans | 3 | 3 |
| Free plan | ||
| Free trial | — | — |
| Pricing model | hybrid | usage-based |
Starter
- $10 credits
- 1 GB processed data
- 10k scores
- 14-day retention
- Unlimited users, projects, datasets, playgrounds, and experiments
Pro
Popular- $249 credits
- 5 GB processed data
- 50k scores
- 30-day retention
- Custom charts, environments, priority support, RBAC, and more
Enterprise
- Custom data retention and export, RBAC, and premium support with on-prem or hosted deployment for high volume or privacy-sensitive data.
Free
- Chat and API Access
- Activity Logs & Export
Pay-as-you-go
Popular- Chat and API Access
- Activity Logs & Export
- Auto-routing, preferred vendor selections
- Budgets & Spend Controls
- Prompt Caching
- Management API key
Enterprise
- Chat and API Access
- Activity Logs & Export
- Auto-routing, preferred vendor selections
- Budgets & Spend Controls
- Prompt Caching
- Management API key
Braintrust vs OpenRouter FAQ
- Which one is cheaper?
- One or both use custom pricing, so it depends on your specific needs.
- Can I use either one for free?
- Both offer free plans, so you can try each without paying. Start with whichever fits your workflow better and upgrade when you hit the limits.
- How do they charge?
- Different approach here. Braintrust uses hybrid pricing, while OpenRouter goes with usage-based. That changes the math depending on your team size and usage.
- Which one is a better deal?
- Depends on what you need. Braintrust: At $249/mo flat for Pro, Braintrust sits mid-to-premium compared to open-source or DIY logging stacks, but it undercuts the fully custom enterprise observability players by keeping a transparent starting price public. They're clearly courting AI-native teams who've outgrown free tools but aren't ready for an enterprise sales cycle yet. OpenRouter: OpenRouter isn't competing on being cheaper than OpenAI or Anthropic directly — it's selling convenience (one API, many models) and charging a toll for that abstraction. In the LLM-gateway space they're positioned as the accessible, no-commitment default, while Enterprise deals are where they compete with direct vendor relationships on price.
Still deciding? See the best Braintrust alternatives or the best OpenRouter alternatives, ranked with verified pricing.
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