An AI API gateway gives you one OpenAI-compatible API key that reaches many models — GPT, Claude, Gemini and image models — through a single endpoint and one balance. The table below compares the four gateways we track on model coverage, real pricing, free tiers, OpenAI compatibility, how you top up, and whether they publish a status page.
| Gateway | Models | Pricing vs. buying direct | Free tier | OpenAI-compatible | Top-up | Referral | Status page | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Novarelay | 7+ (GPT-5.5, Claude Opus 4.8, Gemini 3.5 Flash, GPT-Image-2) | ~20% below direct (provider claim) | No — pay-as-you-go | Yes | Credits from $1 | 10% | Not published | Jul 2026 |
| OpenRouter | 300+ (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Meta, xAI…) | Passthrough — no model markup; +5.5% on credit purchases | Pay-as-you-go | Yes | Credits (never expire) | — | Yes | Jul 2026 |
| CometAPI | 500+ (text, image, video, audio) | 20–40% below direct (provider claim) | Trial credits | Yes | Pay-as-you-go, no minimum | — | 99.9% SLA | Jul 2026 |
| AiHubMix | 500+ (GPT, Claude, Gemini, DeepSeek, Qwen) | Competitive; varies by model | Pay-as-you-go | Yes | Pay-as-you-go | — | status.aihubmix.com | Jul 2026 |
Model counts, discounts and free tiers are set by each provider and change often; the figures above reflect public information as of July 2026. Reselling access to third-party models can carry provider-ToS and data-handling implications — review each gateway’s security and privacy terms before sending production traffic.
Gateways are usually priced relative to what the labs charge, so it helps to know the direct rates. These are standard list prices as of July 2026 (batch mode is typically ~50% off; cached input is far cheaper):
| Model | Provider | Input / 1M | Output / 1M | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GPT-5.5 | OpenAI | $5.00 | $30.00 | Cached input $0.50; Pro tier $30/$180 |
| GPT-Image-2 | OpenAI | Priced per image | Image generation model | |
| Claude Opus 4.8 | Anthropic | $5.00 | $25.00 | Fast mode $10/$50 |
| Claude Sonnet 4.6 | Anthropic | $3.00 | $15.00 | Balanced price/quality |
| Gemini 3.5 Flash | $1.50 | $9.00 | Cached input $0.15; 1M context | |
| Gemini 3.1 Pro | $2.00 | $12.00 | Pro tier (preview) | |
Sources: OpenAI, Anthropic and Google Developer API pricing pages (July 2026). Prices exclude taxes and can change without notice.
We score each gateway on five things that actually affect a build: model coverage (which models, how current), real pricing (token rates vs direct, plus any credit-purchase or platform fees), reliability (uptime SLA, failover, a public status page), OpenAI compatibility (can you point an existing SDK at a new base URL), and developer experience (docs, dashboard, logs, support). We are an independent ranking — see our disclaimer.
It depends on your traffic. Passthrough pricing (OpenRouter) matches the lab rate but adds a small credit-purchase fee; discount gateways (Novarelay, CometAPI) claim 20–40% below direct but on a smaller model catalogue. For heavy, steady workloads, compare the effective per-1M rate after fees and caching against buying an OpenAI API key directly.
Yes — that is the whole point of a gateway. A single OpenAI-compatible key lets you call GPT-5.5, Claude Opus 4.8 and Gemini 3.5 Flash from the same endpoint and one balance, and switch models without re-authenticating.
Treat it like any vendor decision. Check whether the gateway logs or trains on your prompts, whether it is transparent about which upstream provider serves each request, and whether reselling is compatible with the lab’s terms. Reputable gateways publish a privacy policy and a status page; that is a good baseline.
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