Free-tier head-to-head comparison.
Pick GitHub Models when trying gpt-4o without an openai account. prototyping enterprise demos that will later move to azure.
Pick OpenRouter when a/b testing models, multi-provider failover, building agents that pick model per task. the fastest way to try every frontier model with one key.
| Feature | GitHub Models | OpenRouter |
|---|---|---|
| Top model | gpt-4o | meta-llama/llama-3.3-70b-instruct:free |
| Free RPM | 15 | 20 |
| Free RPD | 150 | 200 |
| Free credit | — | — |
| Card required | No | No |
| OpenAI-compatible | Yes | Yes |
| API base | https://models.inference.ai.azure.com | https://openrouter.ai/api/v1 |
| Best for | Trying GPT-4o without an OpenAI account. Prototyping enterprise demos that will later move to Azure. | A/B testing models, multi-provider failover, building agents that pick model per task. The fastest way to try every frontier model with one key. |
| Not for | Production. Free tier rate limits are intentionally low to push paid Azure migration. | Latency-critical use cases — adds a routing hop. Use Groq / direct provider when ms matter. |