<!-- GENERATED BY scripts/gen_comparison_pages.py; DO NOT EDIT -->
# ChinaAPI vs OpenRouter: pricing basis, payment, and OpenAI-compatible surface

> A fact-only comparison of two aggregators: how each sets the rate, what it costs to add credit, which payment methods work, how keys are managed, and which OpenAI-compatible endpoints are served. No quality ranking.

- Canonical: https://chinaapi.ai/compare/chinaapi-vs-openrouter/
- Updated: 2026-08-10
- Chinese models in the ChinaAPI catalog: 68
- Chinese vendors covered: 11
- Base URL: `https://api.chinaapi.ai/v1`

## Scope

Price, payment, key management and OpenAI-compatible surface only.
This page carries no quality, score or ranking claim, because no published
bench evidence supports one yet.

## Side by side

| Dimension | ChinaAPI | OpenRouter |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Chinese models covered | 68 models from 11 Chinese vendors, generated from our own catalog on August 10, 2026. | Not stated here. We could not source a dated, re-checkable count, so we publish none — see the known gaps below. |
| How the rate is set | Token-model rates are synchronized from the gateway and may follow providers' official China list prices where configured. Media models show a transparent USD service rate that may include a service margin covering provider input/output billing, payment processing, chargeback exposure and operations; any margin is included in the displayed rate and is never added separately. | OpenRouter's documentation says the price you pay for inference is the underlying provider's own rate, passed through unchanged. |
| Fee on adding credit | Credit is prepaid and drawn down by metered usage at the published ChinaAPI list rates. The top-up page publishes no separate purchase fee on top of that rate. | OpenRouter's documentation lists a 5.5% fee with a $0.80 minimum on card credit purchases, and a 5% fee on cryptocurrency purchases. |
| Payment methods | Online card payments are currently unavailable. The current route is a prepaid redemption code: you tell us the amount and your dashboard account email, then redeem the code in the dashboard wallet. | OpenRouter's documentation says it accepts major credit cards, AliPay and cryptocurrency payments in USDC. |
| Key management | One key and one base URL cover every vendor in the catalog, so adding a model is a configuration change rather than a new account, a new console and a new invoice. | OpenRouter authenticates with an API key sent as a bearer token, and documents a separate class of management keys for creating and administering keys programmatically. |
| OpenAI-compatible surface | One base URL serves /v1/audio/speech, /v1/audio/transcriptions, /v1/chat/completions, /v1/images/generations, /v1/video/generations, because the catalog spans text, image, video and audio models. | OpenRouter's documentation describes itself as a drop-in replacement for OpenAI, and states that it implements the OpenAI API specification for the completions and chat completions endpoints. |
| Where you can sign up | Sign-up needs no mainland-China company entity and no mainland-China phone number. A new dashboard account starts with $2 of trial credit. | Not stated here. We found no published eligibility list to cite — see the known gaps below. |

## OpenAI-compatible endpoints served by one ChinaAPI key

- `POST https://api.chinaapi.ai/v1/audio/speech`
- `POST https://api.chinaapi.ai/v1/audio/transcriptions`
- `POST https://api.chinaapi.ai/v1/chat/completions`
- `POST https://api.chinaapi.ai/v1/images/generations`
- `POST https://api.chinaapi.ai/v1/video/generations`

## Base URLs

- ChinaAPI: `https://api.chinaapi.ai/v1`
- OpenRouter: `https://openrouter.ai/api/v1` (source: https://openrouter.ai/docs/quickstart, retrieved 2026-08-10)

## Quickstart

```
curl -X POST https://api.chinaapi.ai/v1/chat/completions \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $CHINAAPI_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "model": "deepseek-v4-pro",
    "messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "Hello from ChinaAPI"}]
  }'
```

## Why there is no quality column here.

Every row on this page is a number you can check against a published source: a price, a context window, or a statement about who may open an account. There is no row for reasoning, coding or instruction-following, because we have not measured them. Our bench harness is not published yet, and until it is, a ranking from us would be a preference presented as a measurement.

That is a real limitation, not a hedge, so here is the position it leaves us with: use this page to rule options out on cost, context and account eligibility, and use your own evaluation set to choose among whatever survives. If a comparison page tells you which model is smarter and shows you no task, no sample count and no failure definition, it is selling something.

## What we could not verify, and therefore did not write.

A missing row is a deliberate choice. Each gap below is something a comparison page is expected to state and that we could not source from a page we can re-check, so we left it out rather than fill it in from memory.

- OpenRouter: How many Chinese models OpenRouter lists. Their catalog is a live listing that changes without a dated, citable page, so any number here would be a snapshot we could not honestly date or re-check. The only model count on this page that we stand behind is our own, and it is generated from our catalog.
- OpenRouter: Which countries and territories can open an OpenRouter account. We did not find a published eligibility list equivalent to the ones OpenAI and Anthropic maintain, so we make no claim either way.

## Sources

- How the rate is set: https://openrouter.ai/docs/faq (retrieved 2026-08-10)
- Fee on adding credit: https://openrouter.ai/docs/faq (retrieved 2026-08-10)
- Payment methods: https://openrouter.ai/docs/faq (retrieved 2026-08-10)
- Key management: https://openrouter.ai/docs/faq (retrieved 2026-08-10)
- OpenAI-compatible surface: https://openrouter.ai/docs/quickstart (retrieved 2026-08-10)

ChinaAPI figures generated from the ChinaAPI model catalog on August 10, 2026. Live pricing in the dashboard is authoritative.
That is a dated snapshot, not a live feed: the vendor's own page stays authoritative, and rates change without notifying us. Check the source before you commit a budget to a number here.
Sign up: https://dash.chinaapi.ai/register?lang=en&utm_source=chinaapi&utm_medium=compare-md&utm_campaign=chinaapi-vs-openrouter