TheRouter is an AI API gateway for one-person companies and solo founders. It provides a single API key to access over 100 AI models from OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, DeepSeek, and more. Key features include automatic failover across providers, smart cost-optimized routing, real-time usage tracking, budget alerts, and OpenAI SDK compatibility requiring only a one-line code change to migrate. TheRouter runs global infrastructure with first-class access to Chinese model providers (Qwen, Doubao, Zhipu, DeepSeek).
One Person. One API. Every Model.
Stop managing 5 AI provider accounts. TheRouter gives solo founders enterprise-grade AI infrastructure — unified billing, automatic failover, and smart routing across all models.
Migrate from OpenAI — change one line:
import OpenAI from "openai";
const client = new OpenAI({
baseURL: "https://api.therouter.ai/v1",
apiKey: "your-router-key",
});
// GPT-4o, Claude, Gemini, DeepSeek... switch in one line
const res = await client.chat.completions.create({
model: "anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.6",
messages: [{ role: "user", content: "Hello!" }],
});Sound Familiar?
The daily reality of solo founders managing AI
One key, one bill, one dashboard — less provider admin, lower AI spend.
Unified API
One endpoint, one key, every model. OpenAI SDK compatible — change the base URL and you're done.
- 275+ models from OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, DeepSeek, and more
- Works with Cursor, Claude Code, and any OpenAI-compatible tool
- Text, image, audio, and PDF — all through one API
Smart Routing
Automatic failover and health-aware routing keep your product online when providers go down.
- Priority-based fallback across providers
- Cost-optimized routing for the same model
- Provider health checks in real time
Cost Control
See exactly where every token goes. Set budget alerts before you get a surprise bill.
- Real-time usage and cost dashboard
- Per-model and per-key spend tracking
- Budget alerts at thresholds you set
Global Reach
Global infrastructure with first-class access to Chinese model providers (Qwen, Doubao, Zhipu, DeepSeek).
- Global AWS-based infrastructure, worldwide low latency
- Chinese models (Qwen, DeepSeek) accessible globally
- Data stays with the provider — we don't store content
Built for Builders Like You
Real scenarios from solo founders using TheRouter
Illustrative scenarios — actual results depend on your workload.
Solo dev shipping an AI writing tool
Let users pick their model
Pain
Users want to choose GPT, Claude, or Gemini — but integrating each provider means weeks of adapter code.
Solution
TheRouter unifies them behind one API. Users pick a model on the frontend; your backend stays one line.
Result
Integration time: 2 weeks to 1 day. Maintenance: zero.
// User picks a model — your backend doesn't care which
const response = await client.chat.completions.create({
model: userSelectedModel, // "openai/gpt-4o" or "anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.6"
messages: [{ role: "user", content: prompt }],
});Common Questions
Everything solo founders ask before switching to TheRouter.
Start building in 3 lines of code
import OpenAI from "openai";
const client = new OpenAI({
baseURL: "https://api.therouter.ai/v1",
apiKey: "sk-your-key",
});
const response = await client.chat.completions.create({
model: "anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.6",
messages: [{ role: "user", content: "Hello!" }],
});