OpenRouter Made Crystal Clear · chapter 4: What OpenRouter Actually Costs
The free-tier step function
2026-11-05
The daily cap on `:free` models jumps from 50 to 1000 once $10 has ever been purchased; the per-minute ceiling never changes.
Below: the paragraph from the book that builds this idea, then the diagram itself (Figure 4.2), and a recap. About a minute of reading.
Notice the word "ever." The $10 threshold is a lifetime purchase check, not a running balance. Someone who bought $10 once, six months ago, and has since spent it all down to zero still gets the 1000-a-day cap on free models, because the gate checks whether $10 was ever purchased, not whether $10 is currently sitting in the account.
Recap
- The idea: The daily cap on `:free` models jumps from 50 to 1000 once $10 has ever been purchased; the per-minute ceiling never changes.
- The picture: Figure 4.2, from chapter 4 ("What OpenRouter Actually Costs") of OpenRouter Made Crystal Clear.
- Go deeper: the chapter builds this step by step, with recipes and sources at the end.
This diagram is one of many in OpenRouter Made Crystal Clear.
Every chapter opens with the gist, draws the hard ideas, and ends with recipes and sources.
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