ClinePass vs OpenRouter
A flat pass across six labs, or a credit balance that reaches every lab there is — including the frontier ones.
Updated August 28, 2026 · Independent comparison — ClinePass, OpenRouter are separate products.
ClinePass
Cline's flat-rate pass for open-weight models
ClinePass is Cline's flat-rate pass for open-weight coding models: $4.99 the first month, then $9.99/month. It bundles GLM, Kimi, DeepSeek, MiniMax, MiMo and Qwen models behind one Cline API key, so you never register with the individual labs. Cline advertises roughly 2-5x the throughput of standard API rate limits but does not publish numeric caps, and hitting the ceiling returns a hard ClinePassLimitError rather than degrading to a cheaper model. It is a personal-account product — Cline organization accounts cannot subscribe.
OpenRouter
One key, hundreds of models, pay-per-token
OpenRouter is a credit-based router in front of hundreds of models from every major lab, open and closed. It does not mark up tokens — you pay the underlying provider's list rate — and takes its cut as a 5.5% fee on credit purchases (5% for USDC, which is never refundable). It adds routing you cannot get from a single lab: :floor for the cheapest provider, :nitro for the fastest, automatic fallback when a provider errors, and BYOK at a 5% surcharge. Free-tier models are capped at 50 requests/day, or 1,000/day once you have bought $10 of credits.
Bottom line
A flat pass across six labs, or a credit balance that reaches every lab there is — including the frontier ones. Choose ClinePass if your monthly spend would exceed $9.99 on tokens anyway; choose OpenRouter if you want frontier models — Claude, GPT-5.6, Gemini — in the same key as open weights.
Pricing
| Feature | ClinePass | OpenRouter |
|---|---|---|
| Price/mo | $9.99/mo | No monthly fee — credit top-ups |
| Intro promo | $4.99 first month | Small signup allowance; free models 50/day, 1,000/day after $10 of credits |
| Billing shape | Flat subscription, metered quota | Credits at provider list rates + 5.5% purchase fee |
Models & Context
| Feature | ClinePass | OpenRouter |
|---|---|---|
| Models included | GLM 5.3/5.2, Kimi K3/K2.7/K2.6, DeepSeek V4 Pro/Flash, MiniMax M3, MiMo V2.5/Pro, Qwen 3.8/3.7 | Hundreds — every major lab, open and closed |
| Catalogue size | 13 open-weight models | 400+ models |
| Context window | Per model; no plan-level max published | Per model; up to the model's own max |
Limits & Overage
| Feature | ClinePass | OpenRouter |
|---|---|---|
| Limits (5h / weekly / monthly) | Not published ('2-5x standard API rate') | Your balance; free-tier models capped per day |
| What happens past the cap | Hard stop (ClinePassLimitError) | Requests fail at zero unless auto top-up is on |
| Parallel-agent friendly | Not published | Yes — no concurrency policy on paid credits |
Access & Friction
| Feature | ClinePass | OpenRouter |
|---|---|---|
| Host agents & IDEs supported | Cline VS Code, JetBrains, CLI, SDK | Any OpenAI-compatible client — Cline, OpenCode, Cursor, Aider, Roo |
| Gives you an API key | Cline API key (OpenAI-compatible), not a lab key | OpenRouter key; BYOK at 5% (free to $25k/mo at list price) |
| BYOK-able elsewhere | ✓ | ✓ |
| Payment / region friction | Card; processing fee may apply; personal accounts only | Visa/Mastercard, Alipay, USDC; 5.5% card fee (min $0.80), 5% USDC, non-refundable |
Verdict at a glance
| Feature | ClinePass | OpenRouter |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Cheap Cline-native access to curated open weights | One key across every lab, with routing and fallback |
Cost mechanics
| Feature | ClinePass | OpenRouter |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly floor | $9.99 | None |
| Platform fee | Processing fee may apply | 5.5% on card/Alipay top-ups (min $0.80), 5% USDC |
| Refundable | Standard subscription cancellation | Unused credits within 24h; fees and USDC are not |
| Provider fallback on errors | ✗ | ✓ |
| Frontier models reachable | ✗ | ✓ |
The Verdict
Choose ClinePass if...
- ✓Your monthly spend would exceed $9.99 on tokens anyway
- ✓Open-weight models cover your work and you want the bill fixed
- ✓You don't want to think about a 5.5% top-up fee or a draining balance
- ✓Cline is your agent and you want zero setup
Choose OpenRouter if...
- ✓You want frontier models — Claude, GPT-5.6, Gemini — in the same key as open weights
- ✓You want routing you can't get elsewhere: cheapest-provider, fastest-provider and automatic fallback
- ✓Your usage is spiky, and paying for what you use beats a monthly floor
- ✓You want BYOK, with the first $25k/month at list price before the 5% surcharge
- ✓You need a key that works in any OpenAI-compatible client without tool restrictions
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between ClinePass and OpenRouter?
ClinePass is Cline's flat-rate pass for open-weight coding models: $4.99 the first month, then $9.99/month. OpenRouter is a credit-based router in front of hundreds of models from every major lab, open and closed.
How much do ClinePass and OpenRouter cost?
ClinePass: $9.99/mo. OpenRouter: No monthly fee — credit top-ups. See the pricing table above for full plan details.
Should I choose ClinePass or OpenRouter?
Choose ClinePass if your monthly spend would exceed $9.99 on tokens anyway. Choose OpenRouter if you want frontier models — Claude, GPT-5.6, Gemini — in the same key as open weights.
1DevToolStop renting one agent's model pool
Every pass on this page locks a model pool to a particular agent or gateway, and each one meters you differently. 1DevTool runs Cline, OpenCode, Claude Code, Codex CLI and Gemini CLI side by side in persistent terminals — point each at whichever pass is cheapest this month, keep your own keys, and get an HTTP client, a 13-engine database client and an embedded browser in the same window. One-time $29, no subscription.