# What OpenRouter is, and who pays for what

> OpenRouter runs the AI models your Chirps use and bills your own account for them. Your plan covers everything else.

Source: https://www.chirpbuilder.com/help/openrouter/what-is-openrouter  
Plans: Everyone  
Last checked: 2026-10-26

**OpenRouter** is a service that gives you one account and one key for hundreds of AI models, from
Anthropic (Claude), OpenAI (GPT), Google (Gemini) and many more. Your Chirps use your own OpenRouter
account to write their answers.

![The AI account card: OpenRouter, Connected, key ending in 7Q2M, and "OpenRouter bills your AI use directly."](https://mjmtbasmrtksluvlnema.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/help-media/web-optimized/openrouter/what-is-openrouter/SS-OR-001-01__ai-account__essentials__detail__v01.webp?v=c004835757)

## Who pays for what

- **Your Chirp Builder plan** pays for the software: building Chirps, hosting their chat pages,
  knowledge files, sharing, analytics and everything else in your plan. You can have as many Chirps as
  you like on every plan.
- **Your OpenRouter account** pays for the AI: each answer a Chirp writes, each web search and each
  picture it makes. OpenRouter charges your account directly, at its own prices. Chirp Builder adds no
  markup and never pays for your Chirps' answers.

Your preview chats in the editor count too, because they use the same AI.

## How the money works at OpenRouter

You add credit to your OpenRouter account in advance, and each answer takes a little from it. Most
answers cost a fraction of a cent; premium models and pictures cost more. The model list in the editor
shows about what a typical reply costs for each model. See [Choose your Chirp's AI model](https://www.chirpbuilder.com/help/openrouter/choose-a-model).

When the credit runs out, your Chirps stop answering until you add more. To be sure a busy Chirp never
spends more than you plan, give your key a credit limit: see
[Keep your AI spending in check](https://www.chirpbuilder.com/help/openrouter/spending-limits).

## Why it works this way

- You choose any model for each Chirp, and change it whenever you like.
- You pay the AI's real price, with no markup and no monthly message allowance to run out of. (To
  protect your credit, one visitor can send up to 60 messages an hour to a Chirp.)
- You can see every answer's cost on OpenRouter, and an estimate in your Chirp Builder dashboard. See
  [See what your Chirps cost](https://www.chirpbuilder.com/help/openrouter/costs).

## Next steps

1. [Create your OpenRouter account and key](https://www.chirpbuilder.com/help/openrouter/create-account-and-key).
2. [Connect your OpenRouter key](https://www.chirpbuilder.com/help/openrouter/connect-key).