# OpenRouter alternatives for developers in Nigeria and Africa

URL: https://bridge.wekoya.tech/guides/openrouter-alternatives-africa
Updated: 2026-11-08

**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.

## 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](https://openrouter.ai/pricing) and [FAQ](https://openrouter.ai/docs/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](https://bridge.wekoya.tech/guides/pay-for-ai-apis-in-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](https://bridge.wekoya.tech/models). Already have OpenRouter credit? You can add your OpenRouter key to Bridge under Providers and keep using it alongside your naira balance.

[Create a free account](https://bridge.wekoya.tech/sign-up)

## 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.

## Read next

- [Which AI API gateway a Nigerian startup should use](https://bridge.wekoya.tech/guides/ai-api-gateway-for-nigerian-startups)
- [All models and prices](https://bridge.wekoya.tech/models)