--- title: "Providers Guide: Connect AI Models to OmniRoute" version: 3.8.50 lastUpdated: 2026-08-06 --- # Providers Guide: Connect AI Models to OmniRoute > **TL;DR**: A provider is a connection to an AI service (like OpenAI, Anthropic, Google). You need at least one provider to use OmniRoute. --- ## What Is a Provider? Think of a provider like a **phone carrier**. Just as you need a phone carrier to make calls, you need an AI provider to use AI models. OmniRoute is like a phone that works with **all carriers** — you can switch between them automatically. ### Types of Providers | Type | What It Is | Examples | Cost | | --------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------- | -------------------------------- | | **Free access** | A documented free tier or no-auth path; limits and terms still apply | OpenCode Free, Pollinations, Groq | $0 within the upstream allowance | | **API Key** | You need an API key | OpenAI, Anthropic, Google | Pay per use | | **OAuth** | Login with your account | Claude Code, GitHub Copilot | Subscription | | **Web Cookie** | Uses your browser session | ChatGPT Web, Gemini Web | $0 (uses your account) | ### Web Cookie Providers See **[WEB-COOKIE-GUIDE.md](./WEB-COOKIE-GUIDE.md)** for general setup instructions, limitations, troubleshooting, and provider-specific authentication guidance. --- ## Quick Start: Connect Your First Provider ### Optional first-run free-provider setup The first-run wizard offers an explicit **Set up free providers** card. It derives the current eligible list from OmniRoute's no-auth provider registry, then lets you review and deselect each provider before confirming. OmniRoute shows the provider's caution notice and a link to its site so you can review third-party terms, privacy, availability, and rate limits first. This action is optional: finishing the wizard never creates free-provider connections silently. It creates only providers that are still missing, leaves existing customized connections untouched, and reports created, already-configured, and failed providers individually. You can safely retry only the failures after a partial result. ### Option A: Free Provider (No Credit Card) 1. Open the dashboard at `http://localhost:20128` 2. Go to **Providers** → **Add Provider** 3. Select a provider with a documented free-access path: - **OpenCode Free** — public no-auth endpoint; rate limits and upstream terms apply - **Pollinations** — selected keyless models; premium models require an API key - **LongCat** — one-time 10M-token signup grant; account and KYC required - **Cloudflare Workers AI** — 10K neurons/day; API token and Account ID required - **Kiro AI** — 50 credits/month through OAuth; Kiro's terms prohibit third-party proxy/harness use 4. Click **Connect** 5. Done. The connection can use the provider's current free allowance; model availability, quotas, regions, account requirements, and terms may change. ### Option B: API Key Provider (Paid) 1. Get an API key from the provider's website: - **OpenAI**: https://platform.openai.com/api-keys - **Anthropic**: https://console.anthropic.com/ - **Google**: https://aistudio.google.com/apikey - **DeepSeek**: https://platform.deepseek.com/ - **Groq**: https://console.groq.com/ 2. Open the dashboard at `http://localhost:20128` 3. Go to **Providers** → **Add Provider** 4. Select your provider 5. Paste your API key 6. Click **Connect** 7. Done! You now have access to that provider's models. ### Option C: OAuth Provider (Subscription) 1. Open the dashboard at `http://localhost:20128` 2. Go to **Providers** → **Add Provider** 3. Select your provider (e.g., Claude Code, GitHub Copilot) 4. Click **Connect with OAuth** 5. Login with your account 6. Done! You now have access to your subscription models. --- ## Best Free Providers These providers have documented free-access paths. Authentication, account, KYC, rate, model, region, privacy, and provider-policy requirements vary. | Provider | Documented free access | Example models | How to connect / caveat | | ------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------- | | **OpenCode Free** | No published token cap | Current `*-free` models from the upstream catalog | No auth; rate limits and upstream terms apply | | **Pollinations** | Selected keyless models | OpenAI, Qwen Coder, Mistral, DeepSeek, Grok | No auth for the keyless subset; premium models need a key | | **LongCat** | 10M tokens once | LongCat-2.0 | API key + signup + KYC; not a recurring allowance | | **Cloudflare Workers AI** | 10K neurons/day | Llama, Gemma, Qwen, GLM, Kimi | API token + Account ID | | **Kiro AI** | 50 credits/month | Claude Sonnet 4.5, Haiku 4.5, DeepSeek, MiniMax, GLM | OAuth account; ToS prohibits third-party proxy/harness use | | **NVIDIA NIM** | Current development access; no published token cap in the catalog | NVIDIA's current hosted model catalog | API key; rate and model limits apply | | **Cerebras** | 1M tokens/day, 30K TPM, 5 RPM | Current Cerebras-hosted models | API key; current model-specific limits apply | | **Qwen Web** | No published token cap | Current Qwen web models | Login token; session reliability and provider terms apply | | **Qoder** | No published token cap for the documented free path | Current Qoder catalog | Account credentials; account, daily, and ToS limits apply | **Tip**: Connect multiple providers with documented free access to broaden fallback capacity; quotas, rate limits, and provider terms still apply. --- ## Best Paid Providers These providers offer **high-quality models** with API keys: | Provider | Representative models | Cost model | Free-access note | | -------------------- | -------------------------------- | ------------------------------ | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **OpenAI** | Current GPT and reasoning models | Usage-based | No general free API allowance documented in the catalog | | **Anthropic** | Current Claude models | Usage-based | No general free API allowance documented in the catalog | | **Google AI Studio** | Gemini models | Usage-based beyond free quotas | Free tier exists; current per-model quotas and regional limits apply | | **DeepSeek** | Current DeepSeek models | Usage-based | 5M-token one-time signup grant in the audited catalog; expiry/account terms apply | | **Groq** | Llama, GPT-OSS, and Qwen models | Usage-based beyond free quotas | Free tier is model-specific; RPM/RPD limits vary | | **xAI** | Grok models | Usage-based | No general free API allowance documented in the catalog | --- ## How to Connect a Provider (Step-by-Step) ### Step 1: Open the Dashboard Go to `http://localhost:20128` in your browser. ### Step 2: Go to Providers Click **Providers** in the sidebar. ### Step 3: Click Add Provider Click the **+ Add Provider** button. ### Step 4: Select Your Provider Browse the list or search for your provider. Click on it. ### Step 5: Enter Credentials - **No-auth providers**: no credential is stored by OmniRoute; rate limits and upstream terms still apply - **API key providers**: Paste your API key - **OAuth providers**: Click **Connect with OAuth** and login ### Step 6: Test the Connection Click **Test Connection** to verify it works. ### Step 7: Done! Your provider is now connected. You can use it with `model: "auto"` or specify the provider directly. --- ## Using Multiple Providers OmniRoute works best with **multiple providers**. This gives you: - **Automatic fallback** — If one provider fails, OmniRoute tries the next - **Cost optimization** — OmniRoute picks the cheapest provider for each request - **Speed optimization** — OmniRoute picks the fastest provider for each request - **Quality optimization** — OmniRoute picks the best provider for each task ### Recommended Setup Connect at least **3 providers** for the best experience: 1. **One free provider** (Kiro, OpenCode Free, or Pollinations) — Always available 2. **One fast provider** (Groq, Cerebras) — For quick responses 3. **One quality provider** (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google) — For complex tasks Then use `model: "auto"` and OmniRoute will automatically pick the best one for each request. --- ## Provider-Specific Setup ### OpenAI 1. Get API key: https://platform.openai.com/api-keys 2. In OmniRoute: Providers → Add Provider → OpenAI 3. Paste API key → Connect ### Anthropic 1. Get API key: https://console.anthropic.com/ 2. In OmniRoute: Providers → Add Provider → Anthropic 3. Paste API key → Connect ### Google (Gemini) 1. Get API key: https://aistudio.google.com/apikey 2. In OmniRoute: Providers → Add Provider → Gemini 3. Paste API key → Connect ### DeepSeek 1. Get API key: https://platform.deepseek.com/ 2. In OmniRoute: Providers → Add Provider → DeepSeek 3. Paste API key → Connect ### Groq 1. Get API key: https://console.groq.com/ 2. In OmniRoute: Providers → Add Provider → Groq 3. Paste API key → Connect --- ## Common Questions ### "Do I need to pay to use OmniRoute?" **No!** OmniRoute is free and open-source. You can use free providers (Kiro, OpenCode Free, Pollinations) without paying anything. You only pay if you choose to use paid providers. ### "Which provider should I start with?" Start with **Kiro AI** — it's free, requires no API key, and gives you access to Claude models. Then add more providers as needed. ### "Can I use multiple providers at once?" **Yes!** That's the whole point of OmniRoute. Connect multiple providers and use `model: "auto"` to let OmniRoute pick the best one for each request. ### "What if a provider goes down?" OmniRoute automatically skips failed providers and tries the next one. You don't need to do anything. ### "How do I disconnect a provider?" Go to Providers → click on the provider → click **Disconnect**. ### "Can I use my existing API keys?" **Yes!** If you already have API keys for OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, etc., you can use them in OmniRoute. Just paste them when connecting the provider. --- ## What's Next? - **[Auto-Combo Guide](./AUTO-COMBO-GUIDE.md)** — Let OmniRoute pick the best AI for you - **[Free Tiers Guide](./FREE-TIERS-GUIDE.md)** — Get free AI with no credit card - **[Troubleshooting](./TROUBLESHOOTING.md)** — Fix common issues - **[Provider Reference](../reference/PROVIDER_REFERENCE.md)** — Full list of 329 providers