How to Get an OpenRouter API Key: A Step-by-Step Guide

Reynaldi Chernando

Updated: March 16, 2026

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Prerequisites Step 1: Create Your OpenRouter Account Step 2: Generate Your API Key Step 3: Make Your First API Call A Simpler Alternative with Puter.js Conclusion Related

In this guide, you'll learn how to get your OpenRouter API key. You'll create an OpenRouter account, generate your key, and make your first API call. We'll also show you a simpler alternative if you want access to hundreds of AI models without managing API keys or billing.

Prerequisites

An email, GitHub, or Google account for signing up
Basic familiarity with code (we'll show simple examples)

Step 1: Create Your OpenRouter Account

Go to openrouter.ai. You'll see the homepage. Click Sign up and create your account using your email, GitHub, or Google account.

Once you've signed up, you'll see the Get API Key button on the home screen.

OpenRouter home screen with Get API Key button

Click that to go to the API key management page.

Step 2: Generate Your API Key

You'll land on the API key page. Click Create.

OpenRouter API keys page with Create button

In the creation popup, you can configure:

Name — give it something descriptive like my-app-dev
Credit limit — set a spending cap for this key
Reset limit — configure when the limit resets
Expiration — set when the key expires

Important: Copy the key immediately after creation. OpenRouter only shows it once. If you lose it, you'll need to generate a new one.

OpenRouter API key revealed with copy button

Store it somewhere safe — a password manager, an .env file, or your platform's secrets manager. Never commit API keys to a public repository.

Step 3: Make Your First API Call

Note: The OpenRouter SDK is currently in beta and may have breaking changes between versions. This tutorial uses version 0.9.11. We recommend pinning your dependency to this version until the SDK reaches a stable release.

Install the OpenRouter SDK:

npm install @openrouter/sdk@0.9.11

Then make a chat completion request:

import { OpenRouter } from "@openrouter/sdk";

const client = new OpenRouter({
  apiKey: process.env.OPENROUTER_API_KEY,
});

const response = await client.chat.send({
  chatGenerationParams: {
    model: "openai/gpt-5.4",
    messages: [{ role: "user", content: "Hello, world!" }],
  },
});

console.log(response.choices[0].message.content);

If you get a response back, everything is working. You can swap openai/gpt-5.4 for any model on OpenRouter's supported models page.

A Simpler Alternative with Puter.js

OpenRouter gives you one API key for hundreds of models — but you still need to manage billing, credit limits, and API keys yourself.

Puter.js offers a simpler approach with the User-Pays model: your app's users cover their own AI costs. You don't need an API key at all, and you pay nothing for AI usage no matter how many users you have.

Just add the Puter.js script tag and start chatting with any model:

<html>
<body>
    <script src="https://js.puter.com/v2/"></script>
    <script>
        puter.ai.chat("Hello, world!", { model: "gpt-5.4" })
            .then(response => {
                document.body.innerHTML = response;
            });
    </script>
</body>
</html>

No API key, no backend, no billing setup. The same puter.ai.chat() function gives you access to GPT, Claude, Gemini, Grok, Llama, and hundreds more models through a single interface.

Conclusion

You now know how to create an OpenRouter account, generate an API key, and make your first API call. For more details, check out OpenRouter's documentation. If you'd rather skip managing API keys and billing entirely, Puter.js gives you access to hundreds of AI models through a single JavaScript library with no API keys required.

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