AI gateway fees, compared
Last updated 2026-08-19
AI gateways charge in four shapes. Token markup: a spread on every token, visible only if you check provider list prices. Access fees: a percentage on the money flowing through, like OpenRouter's published 5.5% on credit purchases and 5% on bring-your-own-key traffic past a monthly allowance as of August 2026. Subscriptions: platform plans billed by seats, volume, or features. And savings-contingent: Finest's model, no markup, tokens at the host's rate, 25% of the savings proven per request, and nothing otherwise. The comparison that matters is the worst case: what you pay in a month where the product improved nothing.
The four shapes, and what each optimizes for
None of these is a trick. Each prices what that vendor actually produces. The discipline is matching the fee shape to the job you are hiring for: pipes, governance, or a smaller bill.
- Token markup
- Simple to operate, invisible by default. Audit by diffing per-token rates against the provider's published price for the exact model and tier.
- Access percentage
- Transparent and predictable. Scales with your spend, not with any benefit delivered, because the product is the pipe.
- Subscription
- Right shape for governance platforms whose value is standing capability. Cost is flat whether the bill improved or not.
- Savings-contingent
- Fee exists only as a fraction of a measured improvement. Requires per-request proof infrastructure, which is why almost nobody prices this way.
Compare worst cases, not headlines
Headline savings claims are uncomparable across vendors because the workloads differ. Worst cases compare cleanly. Under markup, your worst case is paying the spread on every token forever. Under access fees, list price plus the percentage. Under subscription, the plan price regardless. Under Finest's model, the worst case is your requested model at the host's published rate with a fee of zero, which makes trying it a bounded experiment rather than a commitment.
Three questions that audit any gateway bill
Is the per-token rate identical to the provider's published price for the same model and tier? What line items exist beyond tokens, and which of them scale with benefit delivered? And can each charge be traced to a per-request record naming what ran and what it saved? On Finest the answers are yes, one fee defined as 25% of proven savings, and yes, the receipt, verifiable at finest.so/verification.
Questions people ask
- What fees does OpenRouter charge?
- As of August 2026, OpenRouter's published platform fee is 5.5% on credit purchases, with bring-your-own-key traffic free up to a monthly allowance and 5% past it. Check their pricing page for current terms.
- What does Finest charge?
- No model markup: tokens bill at the host's published rate. Finest's fee is 25% of the saving it proves on a request against your requested model. No proven saving, no fee.
- Are token markups common?
- Common enough to audit for. Marked-up gateways rarely advertise the spread, so diff their per-token price against the provider's published rate for the exact model and tier.
In 2 minutes, start cutting your API spend without sacrificing quality. Free if you don’t save money.
No model markup. You pay the host’s rate. 25% of what it proves it saved on a request. No saving, no fee.