OpenRouter vs Scaleway: Token Pricing, Speed & Intelligence
Full comparison of OpenRouter and Scaleway — live token pricing, latency, throughput, context window, strengths, weaknesses, and best use cases. Updated July 2026.
OpenRouter
One API for every major LLM — route to the cheapest or fastest provider automatically
OpenRouter is a unified LLM API that routes requests to the cheapest or fastest available provider for any given model. With a single API key you can access GPT-4o, Claude, Llama, Gemini, and hundreds of other models, with automatic fallback and cost optimisation.
Scaleway
French cloud provider with sovereign EU LLM inference
Scaleway is a French cloud provider offering GPU compute and LLM inference with a focus on European data sovereignty. Their Generative APIs service hosts Llama 3.3 and other open-weight models, making them a strong choice for European businesses with data residency requirements.
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Live token pricing
Strengths & weaknesses
OpenRouter
Scaleway
Key differentiators
The only API that lets you access every major LLM with a single key and automatically routes to the cheapest or fastest available provider.
The strongest European data sovereignty credentials — a French company with French data centres, ideal for organisations with strict EU data residency requirements.
Frequently asked questions
OpenRouter FAQs
How does OpenRouter pricing work?
OpenRouter charges the underlying provider rate plus a small routing fee (typically a few percent). For many models, the effective price is very close to or equal to the direct provider rate. Some models are available for free with rate limits.
What models are available on OpenRouter?
OpenRouter provides access to 200+ models including GPT-4o, Claude 3.5 Sonnet, Llama 3.3 70B, Gemini 1.5 Pro, DeepSeek R1, Mistral, and many others. The catalog is updated as new models are released.
Can I use OpenRouter with the OpenAI SDK?
Yes. OpenRouter is fully OpenAI-compatible. Point the OpenAI SDK at the OpenRouter endpoint and use your OpenRouter API key — no other code changes needed.
Scaleway FAQs
Is Scaleway GDPR-compliant?
Yes. Scaleway is a French company with data centres in France and the Netherlands. All data stays within the EU, making it one of the strongest options for GDPR compliance and French data sovereignty requirements.
What LLM models does Scaleway offer?
Scaleway's Generative APIs service hosts Llama 3.3 and other open-weight models. Their catalog is focused on the most widely-used open-source models.
How does Scaleway compare to Nebius AI for European inference?
Both are European providers with GDPR-compliant infrastructure. Scaleway has stronger French data sovereignty credentials (French company, French data centres) while Nebius AI has a larger model catalog and more inference-focused infrastructure.
Provider resources
OpenRouter — One API for every major LLM — route to the cheapest or fastest provider automatically
OpenRouter is a unified LLM API that routes requests to the cheapest or fastest available provider for any given model. With a single API key you can access GPT-4o, Claude, Llama, Gemini, and hundreds of other models, with automatic fallback and cost optimisation.
The only API that lets you access every major LLM with a single key and automatically routes to the cheapest or fastest available provider.
Scaleway — French cloud provider with sovereign EU LLM inference
Scaleway is a French cloud provider offering GPU compute and LLM inference with a focus on European data sovereignty. Their Generative APIs service hosts Llama 3.3 and other open-weight models, making them a strong choice for European businesses with data residency requirements.
The strongest European data sovereignty credentials — a French company with French data centres, ideal for organisations with strict EU data residency requirements.
Key strengths compared
OpenRouter
- ▸Single API for 200+ models across all major providers
- ▸Automatic routing to cheapest or fastest provider
- ▸Fallback and load balancing built in
Scaleway
- ▸French cloud — strongest EU data sovereignty credentials
- ▸GDPR-compliant with data centres in France and Netherlands
- ▸GPU compute + LLM inference from one provider
Provider category context
OpenRouter is a inference api, founded in 2023. Scaleway is a cloud, founded in 1999. The category difference means these providers serve partially overlapping use cases — compare the model lists and pricing tables above to find the best fit for your specific workload.
How to choose between them
Choose OpenRouter if you need single api for 200+ models across all major providers. Choose Scaleway if you need french cloud — strongest eu data sovereignty credentials. For high-volume production workloads, run a cost comparison using the token pricing table above with your actual prompt/completion token ratio — the cheapest provider depends heavily on your input-to-output token ratio.