Bridge by Wekoya / Guides / OpenRouter alternatives for developers in Nigeria and Africa
OpenRouter alternatives for developers in Nigeria and Africa
In short: OpenRouter is a good gateway if you can pay in US dollars: it takes cards, crypto and AliPay, with a fee on each credit purchase. If you want to pay in naira by bank transfer, Bridge by Wekoya is the alternative built for that, with GPT, Claude, Gemini and 90+ models through one OpenAI-compatible key.
Updated
The options side by side
| Bridge by Wekoya | OpenRouter | Each provider directly | LiteLLM (self-hosted) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Currency | Naira | US dollars | US dollars | Whatever each provider bills |
| How you pay | Bank transfer to your own account number, or card | Card, crypto (USDC) or AliPay | Card, prepaid credit | You pay each provider yourself |
| Fee to add credit | None on top of the request price | 5.5% by card ($0.80 minimum), 5% by crypto | None | None, but you run the server |
| One key for many models | Yes | Yes | No, one account per provider | Yes, on your own server |
| Budgets per user of your app | Yes | Not covered here | No | Yes, if you set it up |
| Prompts stored | No | See their policy | See each provider's policy | Your choice |
OpenRouter's fees and payment methods are from its pricing page and FAQ, checked on 8 November 2026; its site states that all prices are in US dollars. Provider billing is covered in paying for AI APIs from Nigeria.
Which to pick
- Pick OpenRouter if you already pay in dollars without trouble and want its very wide catalogue.
- Pick Bridge if you or your customers pay in naira, if dollar cards are a problem, or if you want per-user budgets, company roles and costs in naira on every request.
- Pick a provider directly if you only ever need one maker's models and have a card it accepts.
- Pick LiteLLM if you want to run the gateway yourself and already have provider accounts.
Switching to Bridge
Both speak the OpenAI format, so switching is the base URL and the key: set the base URL to https://wekoya-api.wekoya.tech/v1, use a Bridge key, and use Bridge's model IDs from the models page. Already have OpenRouter credit? You can add your OpenRouter key to Bridge under Providers and keep using it alongside your naira balance.
Common questions
Does OpenRouter accept naira?
Its pricing is in US dollars, and its listed payment methods are cards, crypto and AliPay (checked 8 November 2026). Bridge takes naira by bank transfer.
Is Bridge OpenAI-compatible like OpenRouter?
Yes. Both use the OpenAI format. On Bridge, set the base URL to https://wekoya-api.wekoya.tech/v1 and use a Bridge key; Chat Completions and the Responses API both work.
Can I use my OpenRouter key with Bridge?
Yes. Add it under Providers in the console, and requests can run on your OpenRouter account while the rest use your naira balance.