Getting started with OpenRouter

Create an account, add credits with a credit card, and create an API key. This is everything you need before using AI in i10.y's apps, shown with screenshots of the real pages.

Screenshots taken in October 2026. OpenRouter's pages may change. This guide is written by i10.y and is not made by OpenRouter.

What you need (about 10 minutes)

A Google or GitHub accountAn ordinary email address also works
A credit cardVisa, Mastercard, JCB and others. Start with $10
Access to your emailA verification code is sent when you create a key

1. What OpenRouter is and how you pay

OpenRouter lets you use AI models from many companies — Google, OpenAI, Anthropic and more — with one account and one balance. i10.y's apps (such as the STT4U voice typing app) use these models for transcription and text clean-up.

No subscription. You prepay a balance and only what you use is deducted. Months you don't use it cost nothing
The AI fees don't go to the app's maker (i10.y). You pay OpenRouter directly
Your account and balance can be shared with other apps that use OpenRouter
Typical cost (STT4U, recommended settings): about $0.005 per minute of speech — about $1.50 a month if you dictate 10 minutes a day

2. Why use OpenRouter?

Most AI services are sold as monthly subscriptions. But do you actually use as much as you pay for?

Say you pay $20 a month for a subscription but only use about $3 worth. The other $17 just disappears. With OpenRouter you'd pay only the $3 you used — and $0 in months you don't use it.

You pay per use, only when you need it. Each request costs about the same as the model maker's own price (the only fee is 5.5% when you add credits)
So the less you use AI, the more you save
On the other hand, if you use AI heavily every day, a subscription can be cheaper
Even heavy users waste money on several subscriptions at once. Keep one main subscription, and pay per use for every other AI through OpenRouter — a good combination
One balance lets you try models from many companies, without signing up or adding a card with each one

In short: whether you use AI a little or a lot, OpenRouter is worth having.

3. If English isn't your first language

OpenRouter's pages are in English only. Chrome and Edge can translate the page: right-click an empty part of the page and choose “Translate to [your language]”, or use the translate icon at the right end of the address bar. This guide always names the buttons in English and marks them with red boxes, so you can follow it either way.

Machine translation can be odd. While making this guide, “Close” was translated as “near” and “Monthly” as “monthly magazine” in Japanese, and a selected value sometimes didn't update on the translated page. If something looks wrong, switch back to the original page and look for the English button names shown here.

4. Create an account

Open openrouter.ai and click Sign Up at the top right.
Watch out for fake sites: make sure the address is openrouter.ai

The quickest option is the Google button (the G logo). Pick your usual Google account — no new password needed. GitHub (the cat logo) works the same way
To sign up with email instead, enter your Email address and a Password, tick “I agree to…”, click Continue, and confirm with the email you receive

5. Add credits with a card

OpenRouter is prepaid: you add a balance first, and each AI request is deducted from it.

How much to add

Amount	Fee	Good for
$10	$0.80 (8%)	Recommended for your first top-up. Once you've added $10 or more in total, OpenRouter's free models allow 1,000 requests a day instead of 50
$5	$0.80 (16%)	Just trying it out. The fee is proportionally high
$15 or more	5.5%	Topping up in bulk. Above the minimum fee, you pay the plain 5.5%

The fee is 5.5% with a $0.80 minimum. Your balance doesn't expire until it's used up. Charges are in US dollars; your card company converts them to your currency.

Steps

Signed in, open openrouter.ai/settings/credits — or click Credits in the left menu
Click Add Credits

Credits page with red boxes around Credits in the left menu and the Add Credits button — The Credits page. Your current balance ($10.00 in this example) is shown here too

The purchase dialog opens. The first time, no card is saved yet, so click ① + (Add payment method) and add a card (next picture)
With a card saved, enter the amount in US dollars in ② Amount. The service fee and the total due appear below
Click ③ Purchase. Your card is charged and the credits are added

Purchase Credits dialog: ① the + button to add a card, ② the Amount field, ③ the Purchase button — The purchase dialog (the card shown is a dummy). $10 plus the $0.80 fee is $10.80 in total

Adding a card

Choose ① Card (Google Pay is also available)
Enter ② your card number, expiry date (MM/YY) and security code (the 3 digits on the back), and choose your country
Click ③ Save payment method, then go back to the purchase dialog, enter the amount and click Purchase

Card form: ① the Card tab, ② card number, expiry and security code fields, ③ the Save payment method button — The card form is run by the payment company Stripe and **appears in your browser's language** (Japanese in this screenshot). Your card number is held by Stripe, not OpenRouter

Billing address and Edit Tax ID are for adding your company name or address to receipts
Auto Top-Up on the Credits page buys more credits automatically when your balance runs low. We suggest leaving it off at first until you know how much you use
Your payment history and receipts are under Recent Transactions at the bottom of the Credits page

6. Create an API key

An API key is a spare key that lets an app use AI on your balance. It's a long string starting with sk-or-v1-, and you paste it into the app.

Open openrouter.ai/settings/keys. In the left menu it's ① API Keys
Click ② New Key at the top right

API Keys page: ① API Keys in the left menu, ② the New Key button at the top right — Your keys. You can see when each one was last used and how much it has spent (the two keys shown are examples)

Recommended settings

Fill in the dialog as below. With a spending limit and an expiry date, a leaked key can do only limited damage.

Create API Key dialog: ① Name STT4U, ② Expiration 1 year, ③ Credit limit Custom amount 5, ④ Reset limit every Monthly, ⑤ Create — The dialog with the recommended settings

Field	Recommended	Why
① Name	The app's name (e.g. `STT4U`). With several devices, something like `STT4U laptop`	One key per app and per device shows what each one spends, and lets you delete just the one you no longer need
② Expiration	1 year	Stops a forgotten key from working forever. When it expires, create a new one and paste it in. Avoid “No expiration”
③ Credit limit	Choose Custom amount and enter 5 (dollars)	The most this key can spend. $5 a month is plenty for voice typing, and you can raise it later
④ Reset limit every…	Monthly	The limit in ③ resets on the 1st of every month, so it becomes “up to $5 a month”

Click ⑤ Create
You'll be asked for a verification code. OpenRouter (sender notifications@openrouter.ai) emails a 6-digit code with a subject like “123456 is your verification code”. Type it into ① and click ② Continue

Verification required dialog: ① the six boxes for the code, ② the Continue button — Enter the code from the email. If it doesn't arrive, check your spam folder or click “Resend”

Your key appears. Click the copy button next to ① (two overlapping squares) and paste it into the app right away

Your new key dialog: ① the key and the copy button next to it — The key shown is a dummy. “Where do you send traces?” below is a developer feature you don't need

The key is shown only this once. You can't view it again after closing the dialog. If you forget to copy it, delete that key and create a new one (it costs nothing).

7. Paste it into the app

Paste the copied key into the app's API key field and save. That's it. Paste with Ctrl + V (on a phone, long-press and choose “Paste”).

STT4U: paste it into “Set your OpenRouter API key” on the first screen and click Save. See the STT4U guide

Once pasted, you don't need to keep a copy of the key. If you reinstall the app, just create a new key and paste that.

8. Keep your API key safe

An API key is a key to your balance. Anyone who has it can use AI on your money. Treat it like a password.

Don't

Don't send or show it to anyone — not in email, chat, social media, or a support request. i10.y will never ask for your key
Don't capture it in screenshots you share
Don't put it online. Keys pasted into shared documents or GitHub can be found and abused within minutes
Don't leave it in a plain text note. If you want to keep it, use a password manager

Do

Give each key a limit and an expiry date (see “Recommended settings”). A leaked key stops at its limit
Use a separate key for each app and device, so you only have to delete one
Turn on two-step verification under Security in the left menu, so your account itself is harder to take over
Check Activity now and then for spending you don't recognise
Leave Auto Top-Up off until you're used to it

If you think a key has leaked

On the API Keys page, click ⋮ at the end of that key's row → Delete. A deleted key stops working immediately
Create a new key and paste it into the app
Check Activity for usage you don't recognise

Privacy of what you send

Audio and text from the app go through OpenRouter to the company running that model's servers, and the result comes back. OpenRouter itself doesn't store the content unless you turn on logging. Each model provider has its own policy; if you care, you can choose in the Privacy settings.

Privacy settings, Data Training: ① the switch for Allow paid endpoints that train on request data is off — We recommend **leaving ① off** (“Allow paid endpoints that train on request data”). It's off by default

9. Troubleshooting

Problem	What to do
The app says the key is invalid	It was pasted wrongly (extra spaces, or only part of it), or the key was deleted or has expired. Create a new key and paste it again
The app says there aren't enough credits	Add credits on the Credits page. Requests also stop when a key reaches its Credit limit — check that key's usage and limit on the API Keys page
The verification email doesn't arrive	Check your spam folder. The sender is notifications@openrouter.ai. After a short wait you can click “Resend”
The card is declined	Some cards block payments to overseas services. Check with your card company, or try another card or Google Pay
Can't find a button on the translated page	Switch back to the original page and look for the red boxes and English names in this guide

Still stuck?

i10.y can't answer questions about OpenRouter itself — signing up, payments, cards, refunds and so on. OpenRouter is another company's service, and i10.y can't see inside your account or act on it.

The quickest help is usually an AI assistant. Paste the exact message you see on the screen and ask “What does this mean and what should I do?” — it will walk you through it in your own language.

Google AI Mode (opens AI Mode in Google Search)
OpenRouter's official documentation: openrouter.ai/docs

Never paste your API key or card number into an AI chat either. If you share a screenshot, check that no key or card details are visible.

For questions about i10.y's apps (for example, how the app behaves after you paste the key), use the report form on the app's page or email support@i10y.com (please don't include your API key).