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 | usage-based | usage-based |
Starter
- Platform fee
- Topics
- Processed data
- Scores
- Users
- Projects
- Playgrounds
- Experiments
- Datasets
- Human review scores
- Saved table views
- Custom columns
- Custom trace views
- Included data retention
- OAuth sign-in
- Multi-factor authentication (MFA)
- SOC 2 Type II compliance
- Community support
Pro
- Platform fee
- Topics
- Processed data
- Scores
- Users
- Projects
- Playgrounds
- Experiments
- Datasets
- Human review scores
- Playground annotations
- Saved table views
- Custom columns
- Custom trace views
- Custom charts
- Environments
- Included data retention
- OAuth sign-in
- Multi-factor authentication (MFA)
- SOC 2 Type II compliance
- Role-based access control (RBAC)
- Data processing agreement (DPA)
- Community support
- Priority support
Enterprise
- Platform fee
- Topics
- Processed data
- Scores
- Users
- Projects
- Playgrounds
- Experiments
- Datasets
- Human review scores
- Loop agent
- Playground annotations
- Saved table views
- Custom columns
- Custom trace views
- Custom charts
- Environments
- Included data retention
- Custom policies
- S3 data export
- OAuth sign-in
- Multi-factor authentication (MFA)
- SOC 2 Type II compliance
- SAML single sign-on (SSO)
- Role-based access control (RBAC)
- Data processing agreement (DPA)
- Business associate agreement (BAA)
- Uptime service level agreement (SLA)
- Community support
- Priority support
- Shared Slack channel
- Guaranteed service level agreements (SLAs)
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?
- Both use a usage-based model, so the comparison is straightforward — it comes down to features and limits at each price point.
- Which one is a better deal?
- Depends on what you need. Braintrust: At $249/mo, they're priced accessibly for mid-stage AI teams but not trying to be the cheapest eval tool in the room — they're positioning against the 'build it yourself' crowd and tools like LangSmith or Weights & Biases. The startup discount (6–12 months free on Pro) signals they're actively trying to land early-stage AI companies before competitors do. 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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We'll monitor pricing changes for Braintrust and OpenRouter and let you know when something moves.