OmniRoute: The Free AI Gateway, Explained

Install OmniRoute in 2 minutes, connect 90+ free AI providers, and never hit a rate limit mid-coding again. Unofficial guide with setup steps, provider lists, and routing strategies.

Setup Guide → Free Providers List
237
AI Providers
90+
Free Tiers
~1.6B
Free Tokens / Month
24+
Coding Agents Supported

What Is OmniRoute?

OmniRoute is a free, MIT-licensed AI gateway that runs entirely on your own machine. Point any coding tool — Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Cline, Copilot, Antigravity — at one local endpoint, and OmniRoute routes each request across 237 AI providers, 90+ of which have free tiers. When one provider hits a rate limit, OmniRoute falls back to the next in milliseconds, so you never stop coding.

The project took off on GitHub in mid-2026 as the "never stop coding" gateway. OmniRoute aggregates roughly 1.6 billion documented free tokens per month across 40+ provider pools and 500+ models — and shows a live used/remaining breakdown on its dashboard. Eleven providers are free forever, including Kiro AI (free Claude), Pollinations, and OpenCode Zen, so OmniRoute costs $0 to start: no card, no signup fees.

Beyond routing, OmniRoute compresses verbose tool outputs (git diffs, grep results, logs) with its RTK + Caveman engine, cutting 15–95% of eligible tokens before they reach the model. It is local-first with zero telemetry: your prompts go straight from your machine to the provider — there is no OmniRoute cloud in the request path. This site is an unofficial OmniRoute guide covering setup, free providers, and routing strategies.

OmniRoute Quick Start

Four steps from install to your first free AI request. Full walkthrough in the OmniRoute setup guide.

1

Install and launch OmniRoute

Run npm install -g omniroute, then the omniroute command. The dashboard opens at http://localhost:20128 and the API endpoint lives at http://localhost:20128/v1.

2

Connect a free provider

In the dashboard go to Providers and connect Kiro AI (free Claude, about 50 credits per month) or OpenCode Free (no signup at all). Both work immediately.

3

Point your coding tool at OmniRoute

Set Base URL to http://localhost:20128/v1, copy the API key from Dashboard → Endpoints, and set the model to auto for zero-config smart routing.

4

Verify the connection

Run curl http://localhost:20128/v1/models with your Authorization header. If you see your connected models listed, OmniRoute is routing correctly.

# Install and run OmniRoute
npm install -g omniroute
omniroute
# Dashboard → http://localhost:20128 · API → http://localhost:20128/v1

Zero-Config Routing with auto

Set your model to auto and OmniRoute builds a virtual combo from your connected providers, scored live on 9 factors — health, quota, cost, latency, and more.

Model ID What it optimizes for
auto Balanced default — sticks to your last good provider
auto/coding Quality-first weights for code generation
auto/fast Lowest latency first
auto/cheap Cheapest per token first
auto/offline Most quota and rate-limit headroom first
auto/smart Quality-first plus 10% exploration to discover better models

Why Developers Use OmniRoute

Six problems it solves in one install.

Never hit rate limits

4-tier auto-fallback — Subscription → API → Cheap → Free. Quota out? OmniRoute switches provider in milliseconds with zero downtime.

Save up to 95% tokens

RTK + Caveman stacked compression rewrites verbose tool outputs before they reach the model — about 89% savings on tool-heavy sessions.

$0 to start

90+ providers with free tiers, 11 free forever. OmniRoute aggregates ~1.6B documented free tokens per month. No card needed.

Every tool works

24+ coding agents through one config: Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Cline, Copilot, Antigravity, Windsurf, Aider, and any OpenAI-compatible client.

Reuse your subscriptions

Already pay for Claude Code or Copilot? OmniRoute tracks the quota and drains every token before reset — then falls back to free tiers.

Private by design

Local-first, zero telemetry, MIT licensed. Requests go straight to the provider — no middleman cloud, no data collection.

OmniRoute Guides

Setup Guide →

Install OmniRoute via npm, Docker, pnpm, or AUR, connect your first free provider, and wire up Claude Code or Cursor.

Free Providers List →

All 90+ free tiers in one table — what each gives you, auth requirements, and which are free forever.

OmniRoute vs OpenRouter →

Self-hosted vs cloud, free aggregation vs paid API — a dimension-by-dimension comparison to pick the right gateway.

OmniRoute FAQ

What is OmniRoute?
OmniRoute is a free, MIT-licensed AI gateway that runs on your own machine. It connects your coding tools to 237 AI providers — 90+ with free tiers — through one local endpoint, with automatic fallback when a provider hits its rate limit.
Is OmniRoute really free?
Yes. OmniRoute itself is open-source (MIT) and self-hosted, so there is no subscription. You pay providers directly if you use paid tiers, but OmniRoute aggregates roughly 1.6B documented free tokens per month across 90+ free provider tiers.
Which coding tools work with OmniRoute?
24+ coding agents work with OmniRoute, including Claude Code, Codex CLI, Cursor, Cline, GitHub Copilot, Antigravity, Windsurf, Aider, and any tool that accepts an OpenAI-compatible base URL.
How does OmniRoute avoid rate limits?
OmniRoute uses a 4-tier auto-fallback chain: Subscription → API → Cheap → Free. When one provider hits a quota or rate limit, the next takes over in milliseconds, so your coding session never stops.
Does OmniRoute send my code to a third party?
No. OmniRoute is local-first with zero telemetry. Requests go straight from your machine to the AI provider you configured — there is no OmniRoute cloud in the request path.
What is the difference between OmniRoute and OpenRouter?
OpenRouter is a paid cloud API that unifies providers behind one hosted endpoint. OmniRoute is free self-hosted software that does the same locally, adds free-tier aggregation, token compression, and can reuse coding subscriptions you already pay for.
What does token compression do in OmniRoute?
OmniRoute's RTK + Caveman compression rewrites verbose tool outputs like git diffs and logs before they reach the model, cutting 15–95% of eligible tokens (about 89% on tool-heavy sessions) without losing context.
Can OmniRoute split one subscription across a team?
Yes. The Quota-Share feature distributes a provider's time-based quota fairly across multiple keys in a pool, with per-key weights, caps, and burst policies — useful for teams sharing one Codex Pro or Claude plan.

Start Using OmniRoute Today

One npm install stands between you and 237 AI providers. Follow the OmniRoute setup guide and make your coding tools unbreakable.

Setup Guide Official GitHub