Stripe has finalized a deal to acquire OpenRouter for more than $7 billion, roughly 5.4 times the $1.3 billion valuation OpenRouter carried in May 2026.
OpenRouter adds no markup to inference and instead charges 5.5% on card credit purchases, 5% on crypto, and 5% on bring-your-own-key usage above the monthly allowance.
Most teams should stay on the gateway but keep one direct provider key tested, because the router is now owned by the company that also processes its payments.