LLM API vs OpenRouterAI Gateway Benchmark Comparison
OpenRouter was faster in all 4 shared AI gateway benchmarks.
- Shared benchmarks
- 4
- Last run
- October 30, 2026
Scorecard
Median of each benchmark's primary metric; lower is better. Medians within 5% count as roughly even, and a benchmark gets no speed verdict when either provider completed fewer than 50% of runs.
| Benchmark | LLM API | OpenRouter | Result | Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anthropic Cold end-to-end latency · Run October 30, 2026 | 762ms 100% success | 469ms 100% success | OpenRouter faster | 1.63x |
| OpenAI Cold end-to-end latency · Run October 30, 2026 | 1781ms 100% success | 698ms 100% success | OpenRouter faster | 2.55x |
| Gemini Cold end-to-end latency · Run October 30, 2026 | 2220ms 100% success | 1897ms 100% success | OpenRouter faster | 1.17x |
| Kimi Cold end-to-end latency · Run October 30, 2026 | 2118ms 100% success | 1894ms 100% success | OpenRouter faster | 1.12x |
Anthropic
Run October 30, 2026Time for a cold request routed through the gateway to Claude Haiku 4.5 to return its complete response.
Cold end-to-end latency
OpenRouter had a 1.63x lower median cold end-to-end latency (469ms vs 762ms for LLM API).
Median cold end-to-end latency over time
10 runs from August 28, 2026 to October 30, 2026.
OpenAI
Run October 30, 2026Time for a cold request routed through the gateway to GPT-5.4 Mini to return its complete response.
Cold end-to-end latency
OpenRouter had a 2.55x lower median cold end-to-end latency (698ms vs 1781ms for LLM API).
Median cold end-to-end latency over time
10 runs from August 28, 2026 to October 30, 2026.
Gemini
Run October 30, 2026Time for a cold request routed through the gateway to Gemini 3.6 Flash to return its complete response.
Cold end-to-end latency
OpenRouter had a 1.17x lower median cold end-to-end latency (1897ms vs 2220ms for LLM API).
Median cold end-to-end latency over time
10 runs from August 28, 2026 to October 30, 2026.
Kimi
Run October 30, 2026Time for a cold request routed through the gateway to Kimi K3 to return its complete response.
Cold end-to-end latency
OpenRouter had a 1.12x lower median cold end-to-end latency (1894ms vs 2118ms for LLM API).
Median cold end-to-end latency over time
10 runs from August 28, 2026 to October 30, 2026.
Methodology
- One workload, every provider. The same script, payload, and model hit every provider, addressed the way its own API expects. Nobody gets a tuned or special path.
- Repeated on a schedule. Every suite runs many iterations per provider, automated on a recurring schedule, so results reflect steady state rather than one lucky request.
- Raw results published. Every run is committed as JSON to the public benchmarks repo, next to the code that produced it. Nothing is cherry-picked or held back.
- How this comparison is built. Each benchmark compares the two providers' medians; results within 5% count as roughly even. A comparison is published only when both providers completed the latency benchmark on at least two of the same model families reliably: at least 50% success for each provider, in benchmark runs from the last 30 days.
Frequently asked questions
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OpenRouter was faster in all 4 shared AI gateway benchmarks. In Anthropic (October 30, 2026), OpenRouter had a median cold end-to-end latency of 469ms versus 762ms for LLM API, 1.63x faster. In OpenAI (October 30, 2026), OpenRouter had a median cold end-to-end latency of 698ms versus 1781ms for LLM API, 2.55x faster. In Gemini (October 30, 2026), OpenRouter had a median cold end-to-end latency of 1897ms versus 2220ms for LLM API, 1.17x faster. In Kimi (October 30, 2026), OpenRouter had a median cold end-to-end latency of 1894ms versus 2118ms for LLM API, 1.12x faster.