An OpenAI API alternative that keeps your OpenAI code

The cheapest migration is the one that touches almost no code. AnyRouter is OpenAI-compatible, so an existing OpenAI integration moves over by changing two values — the base URL and the key — and nothing else. Streaming, tools, and the SDK all stay the same; model ids become provider/model strings.

from openai import OpenAI

client = OpenAI(
  base_url="https://anyrouter.dev/api/v1",  # was https://api.openai.com/v1
  api_key="sk-ar-v1-...",                    # your AnyRouter key
)
resp = client.chat.completions.create(
  model="openai/gpt-5.5",                    # or anthropic/claude-opus-4-8, google/gemini-2.5-pro
  messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Hello"}],
)

import OpenAI from "openai"

const client = new OpenAI({
baseURL: "https://anyrouter.dev/api/v1",
apiKey: process.env.ANYROUTER_API_KEY,
})
const resp = await client.chat.completions.create({
model: "openai/gpt-5.5",
messages: [{ role: "user", content: "Hello" }],
})

Calling OpenAI directly is one provider and one point of failure. Routing the same OpenAI-shaped requests through AnyRouter keeps OpenAI available and adds everyone else behind the same contract:

• Every provider, including OpenAI — reach 170+ models by changing a string, not a client.
• Automatic failover — when an upstream is rate-limited or down, the request rolls to a healthy one.
• $0-markup BYOK — attach your own OpenAI (and 60+ other) keys and pay only the provider.
• One balance, one audit log — cost, latency, and tokens per request across every provider.
• No lock-in — it's the standard OpenAI API; point back to api.openai.com anytime.

If parts of your stack use Claude clients or OpenAI's newer Responses API, the same account serves /messages and /responses too — see /blog/unified-ai-api-one-endpoint. And to route coding agents like Claude Code or Codex through the same key, see /blog/coding-agents-one-gateway.