OpenRouter
One API that sells access to 400+ AI models from 80+ providers. Stripe agreed in August 2026 to buy it, reportedly for about $7.5B, and the deal had not been confirmed closed by November.
Stripe, Aug 19, 2026; TechCrunch, Aug 19, 2026- Valuation
- About $7.5B (reported) the price Stripe is paying, per the New York Times citing one person; Axios said over $8B. In May 2026 investors valued it at about $1.3B.
- Raised
- $153M a $40M seed and Series A in 2025 and a $113M Series B in May 2026.
- Watch
- Stripe deal not yet closed agreed Aug 19, 2026 and expected to close "in the coming weeks." No closing notice found by Nov 3.
- Scale
- 10T+ tokens a day OpenRouter says it serves 10 million+ developers and companies and has grown inference volume at least 10x a year.
- AI
- Built for agents a hosted MCP server, llms.txt files, an Agent SDK and skills for coding agents.
- Liquidity
- Via the sale the NYT reported $1.5B to founders and $6B to investors; how staff options are treated has not been reported.
- Hiring
- 26 → 24 remote listings since Oct 10.
A fee on credits, not a markup on models.
Customers buy prepaid credits and pay each model's list price with no markup. OpenRouter keeps a platform fee on credit purchases: 5.5% on Standard and 8% on Business, with discounted contract fees for Enterprise. Customers who bring their own provider keys get $25,000 a month free, then pay 5% of list price. It does not publish revenue.
OpenRouter pricing page, checked Nov 3, 2026- 1The biggest neutral marketplace for modelsWeekly volume rose from 5 trillion to 25 trillion tokens in the six months to May 2026, and passed 10 trillion a day by August. Menlo Ventures says it serves 500+ models from 80+ providers.OpenRouter, May 28, 2026; Menlo Ventures, Aug 19, 2026
- 2It sees what every model costs and how it performsRouting across many providers gives it live price, uptime and usage data. CapitalG's partner called it a likely "data clearinghouse" for AI models.Business Wire release via 01net, May 26, 2026
- 3Soon backed by Stripe's reachStripe says 88% of the Forbes AI 50 use its products, and its founders called OpenRouter useful for any developer on one of the largest developer platforms.TechCrunch, Aug 19, 2026
- Microsoft$3876Blisted, Oct 30 close
- Amazon$2592Blisted, Oct 30 close
- Vercel (AI Gateway)$9.30Bprivate, Sep 30
- OpenRouter$7.50BAcquisition agreement (Stripe), Aug 19
Private values are the last reported round; they can be stale. Listed values are market value. Bars start at zero.
Every round, and what its terms give away.
OpenRouter is private, so there is no share price. What its investors paid, and on what terms, is the closest thing to one.
- $7.50B
- latest valuation, Acquisition agreement (Stripe) Aug 19
- $153M
- raised in all
- 90
- employees, as reported
Not disclosed. Its 2025 Form D declined to state a revenue range.
OpenRouter, Aug 19, 2026 (about 90 people); Payments Dive (raised)Post-money valuations as reported. The line starts at zero. Rounds without a reported valuation are left off.
- Aug 19Acquisition agreement (Stripe)at $7.50BLed by StripeTerms undisclosed. $7.5B per the NYT (one person); Axios said over $8B, mostly stock. Not confirmed closed as of Nov 3, 2026.Stripe, Aug 19, 2026; Payments Dive; The Next Web
- May 26Series B$113M at $1.30BLed by CapitalG (Alphabet). About 9% of the company, if all new sharesNew: NVentures (NVIDIA), ServiceNow, MongoDB, Snowflake and Databricks venture arms. $1.3B post-money as reported by the NYT. Form D: $113.5M sold to 20 investors, first sale Mar 26, 2026.OpenRouter, May 2026; SEC Form D, Jul 6, 2026; Shopifreaks (NYT)
- Jun 25Seed and Series A$40M at $500MLed by Andreessen Horowitz and Menlo Ventures. About 8% of the company, if all new sharesSequoia and angels joined. $500M valuation reported by the WSJ citing one person. A Form D shows $29.6M of equity sold from May 27, 2025.The Block, Jun 27, 2025; SEC Form D, Aug 25, 2025
- Down round or flat round?No. The Series B at a reported $1.3B was well above the reported $500M of 2025, and Stripe's reported price is several times higher again.TechCrunch, Aug 19, 2026; The Block, Jun 2025Clear
- How much of the company the last round soldAbout 8.7%: $113M at a reported $1.3B post-money. Ordinary for a Series B.Shopifreaks, May 29, 2026 (NYT)Clear
- Time since the last raiseThe Series B came in May 2026 and the Stripe agreement three months later, so no new round is expected while the sale is pending.OpenRouter, Aug 19, 2026Clear
- Structured or unusual termsNone reported. The 2026 Form D lists plain equity, no sales commissions and no proceeds paid to officers; it does not show preferences.SEC Form D, OpenRouter, Inc., Jul 6, 2026Open
- Who led the last roundCapitalG, a new outside lead, with five new corporate venture arms. Existing backers a16z and Menlo also joined.OpenRouter, May 28, 2026Clear
- What staff equity gets in the saleThe NYT reported $1.5B for founders and $6B for investors; Axios said mostly stock. Nothing public on employee options, vesting or retention.The Next Web, Aug 2026 (NYT, Axios)Open
- Layoffs in the last 12 monthsNone found in news or company posts, and it is hiring about 30 roles. Stripe declined to say whether job cuts are planned after the deal.Payments Dive, Aug 19, 2026; searched Nov 3, 2026Open
Clear: checked, nothing found. Flag: found, with the source. Open: could not be checked.
No filing reported. Stripe agreed to acquire it on Aug 19, 2026 for a reported $7.5B; closing not confirmed as of Nov 3, 2026.
What the record says, and what we think it means.
The fact is the source's. The read, in italics, is ours.
- 01Watch
Stripe is buying the company.
OpenRouter, Aug 19, 2026; Stripe newsroomStripe and OpenRouter announced the agreement on Aug 19, 2026. OpenRouter said it keeps its name, product and roadmap, and the deal faced customary closing conditions.
A new hire would likely end up a Stripe employee. Ask how your equity and title convert.
- 02Good
A big price, reported not disclosed.
The Next Web, Aug 2026; TechCrunch, Aug 16, 2026Neither side named a price. The NYT reported $7.5B citing one person; Axios reported over $8B; Bloomberg had reported over $7B.
About 5.8 times the May valuation in three months, a strong outcome for earlier shareholders if the reports hold.
- 03Watch
No closing notice yet.
OpenRouter announcements, checked Nov 3, 2026OpenRouter expected to close "in the coming weeks" in August. By Nov 3 its announcements and Stripe's newsroom showed no completion notice; some outlets say it closed but cite no source.
Until it closes, the sale can still change or fail. Treat closing claims in the press with care.
- 04Neutral
Others wanted it too.
TechCrunch, Aug 19, 2026TechCrunch said Stripe reportedly outbid other suitors, including Databricks, which invested in the Series B.
Interest from several buyers supports the price. It also shows how valued neutral routing has become.
- 05Watch
Can it stay neutral under Stripe?
TechCrunch, Aug 19, 2026; OpenRouterA PitchBook analyst told TechCrunch the deal could give Stripe leverage over AI labs and clouds. OpenRouter says routing stays driven by what is best for the user.
If model providers start to distrust the owner, supply and prices could suffer. Nothing like that is reported.
- 06Neutral
Headquartered in New York, remote for US staff.
SEC EDGAR; OpenRouter terms; Ashby job board, Nov 3, 2026SEC filings and its terms list 169 Madison Ave, New York, a Delaware company. Of 30 open roles on Nov 3, 25 were remote (24 US, 1 APAC), 4 hybrid in the San Francisco Bay Area and 1 on site in New York.
Most roles are remote in the US. Leadership support roles lean toward the Bay Area.
- 07Neutral
A small board.
SEC Form D, Jul 6, 2026; Menlo VenturesThe July 2026 Form D lists Alexander Atallah and Christopher Clark as officers and directors, plus directors Matthew Murphy and Anjney Midha. Menlo says Murphy joined the board at the Series A.
Founders plus the two early lead investors. Typical for a company this young.
- 08Good
Product kept shipping after the deal.
OpenRouter announcements, Sep to Oct 2026Since August it launched a Batch API at half price, US or EU in-region routing, a Security Center for API keys, private endpoints for fine-tuned models and CSAM screening.
No sign of a stall while the sale is pending. Enterprise features point at bigger customers.
Sales is paid 71% over market. Engineering, 42% over.
We save every company's roles, pay by team and level, AI share and churn every day, so each month this page can say more. Sparklines use their own scale.
Can AI agents do business with OpenRouter?
We checked the agent payment programs, developer docs and site rules an AI assistant would meet.
Built for agents. Hosted MCP server, llms.txt on site and docs, and an Agent SDK; robots.txt allows all bots.
Still Remote read- YesAn MCP server agents can callHosted at mcp.openrouter.ai with browser OAuth. Coding agents can look up models, prices, credit balance and docs, and send test messages.OpenRouter docs, checked Nov 3, 2026
- YesSite and docs AI tools can readopenrouter.ai/llms.txt is about 10,800 characters; docs llms.txt about 35,600; a full docs file is about 4.9 million.checked Nov 3, 2026
- YesLets AI crawlers read its siterobots.txt names no AI bots; it allows all user agents and blocks only /seo/.checked Nov 3, 2026
- YesTools for building agentsAn Agent SDK with tool calls, MCP tools, human approval gates and loop detection, plus guides for Claude Code, Codex, Cursor and OpenCode.OpenRouter docs index, checked Nov 3, 2026
- YesSkills and a harness for coding agentsPublishes skill files for coding agents and Ori Harness, which runs existing agent CLIs on OpenRouter with org guardrails.checked Nov 3, 2026
- MixedAgent payment protocolsBilling runs on Stripe (Invoicing, Tax, Radar). We found no OpenRouter page naming ACP, AP2 or a card network agent program.Stripe, Jan 29, 2026; searched Nov 3, 2026
Where OpenRouter puts AI to work.
- 1Engineers are expected to use coding agents dailySeveral current postings ask for people who use coding agents daily, including on the money and identity platforms, and a PM who prototypes with agents before asking engineers.OpenRouter job board, Nov 3, 2026
- 2Support built around AI agentsThe Director of Customer Support posting describes a support team where AI agents and staff work together, built to scale faster than headcount. A roughly 90-person team serves 10 million+ users.OpenRouter job board, Nov 3, 2026; OpenRouter, Aug 2026
More listings than on Sep 18, led by engineering.
What has to be true for $7.5 billion to hold?
OpenRouter does not publish revenue, so the starting number is your assumption, not ours. A way to think, not a forecast, and not investment advice.
At 25x, OpenRouter needs $300 million of revenue to be worth $7.5 billion. Your world gets there with $588 million, so the next round likely prices above the last.
$100,000 of equity valued at the $7.50B Acquisition agreement (Stripe) price would be worth about $196,000 on paper in this world, before dilution from new rounds, taxes and vesting. Private shares only turn into cash at a sale, an IPO or a tender offer.
A way to think, not a forecast, and not investment advice.
Stripe, Aug 19, 2026; OpenRouter, May 2026The signals, and which way they push.
- TailwindToken volume keeps multiplying.
Weekly tokens rose fivefold in six months to May 2026; Menlo says volume doubles about every 11 weeks.
- TailwindCompanies use many models.
Its release cites a Deloitte study: 67% of enterprises use over a billion tokens a month, and buyers avoid lock-in to one lab.
- HeadwindCustomers build their own routers.
Menlo counts 10+ companies, including Ramp and Cursor, that launched their own routers. Vercel and Databricks run gateways too.
- TailwindStripe's distribution.
Stripe says 88% of the Forbes AI 50 already use its products, and it plans to push model-agnostic agent tools.
- HeadwindA thin fee on pass-through prices.
It earns a 5.5% to 8% fee on credits and 5% on BYOK above $25,000 a month, so big users can push for discounts.
Where OpenRouter ends up, if we had to bet.
Our calls, not facts. Each one is tied to something that already happened, so you can judge the reasoning.
- 1
OpenRouter never lists on its own; any listing comes through Stripe.
Long shot 16%IPOStripe agreed to buy it in August 2026. A standalone IPO would need that deal to fail first.
Stripe, Aug 19, 2026 - 2
OpenRouter still runs under its own name inside Stripe in 2031.
Likely 72%M&AIt promised the same name, product and roadmap, and said it plans to grow the team.
OpenRouter, Aug 19, 2026 - 3
Stripe bundles OpenRouter into its billing, so AI apps buy and resell model usage in one place.
Coin flip 50%RevenueOpenRouter already bills on Stripe, and TechCrunch says Stripe wants to move into AI spend management. How fast it merges products is not stated.
TechCrunch, Aug 19, 2026; Stripe, Jan 2026 - 4
Most traffic comes from agents, not apps a person types into.
Likely 72%AIIts docs, MCP server, Agent SDK and Ori harness target coding agents. A current posting says coding agents are users of its APIs.
OpenRouter, Nov 2026; job board - 5
OpenRouter is still the largest independent model marketplace in 2031.
Coin flip 50%CompetitionIt leads on volume today. Cloud gateways, Vercel, Databricks and in-house routers all compete, and Stripe ownership may test neutrality.
Menlo Ventures, Aug 19, 2026
Read by the Still Remote research agent on November 4, 2026 from the sources linked on this page. Facts and scenarios only, not investment advice.