8 ms·

Every token/llm provider already has usage metering...so not sure what exactly you're imagining stripe adds here

• kridsdale1 28d ago
  Aggregation behind one interface, just like the actual token product.
  • aleqs 28d ago
    That's what OpenRouter already does, so the Stripe value add here is still unclear
    • pests 28d ago
      Not OP, but I could see the vision. Right now OpenRouter is developer-paid with no way to pass costs onto the end user. Stripe could help bill and meter at the user level for per-user billing. I would also think more SDKs/easier ways to add AI features (paid for via openrouter) into apps and websites.
      • aleqs 28d ago
        Open router supports per-request usage metering, as well as per-key. Building user-level metering from this is trivial, and there are many implementations of this out there. Supporting per-user first-class is trivial considering Open router already has per-request and already supports per-request attribution. How important that is, is a big question, but definitely not something that requires Stripe to build.
        • user43928 28d ago
          Could there be use cases where you want to run inference for users in your app, but don't want to host your own backend, user authentication, and billing? The user could log into his personal OpenRouter account, authorize your application, and optionally set a budget, all in something like a Stripe payment screen.
          • aleqs 28d ago
            > The user could log into his personal OpenRouter account, authorize your application, and optionally set a budget, all in something like a Stripe payment screen. Like standard oauth? https://openrouter.ai/docs/guides/overview/auth/oauth https://openrouter.ai/docs/guides/overview/auth/oauth
            • deleted 28d ago
              [deleted]
            • user43928 28d ago
              Good point, just needs an user friendly flow to sign up and set the budget in a way that is more similar to Stripe checkout than regular account creation.
      • devmor 28d ago
        OpenRouter already supports this, requests return their exact cost.
• ygjb 28d ago
  A single policy location for multiple models with usage limits/rate limits, spend limits all configurable using a common syntax + deep integration with account levels and high visibility into subscription/payments related to meter usage to help understand whether or not your pricing model is underwater as costs change is exceptionally valuable. AFAIK each product consuming model providers without an openrouter style proxy has to do that work themselves, and if you are already using stripe for subs/payments, the direct integration is a huge value add for customers, especially if you can alert on "upcoming price changes from your provider changes your unit economics for XYZ packages/sub tiers".
  • aleqs 28d ago
    You're just describing what OpenRouter already does?
    • ygjb 28d ago
      The first half yes, the second half, I don't think so, because that would require OpenRouter to know what you are charging your customers.
• selvan 28d ago
  Similar to how Stripe is a middleman for payments across (fragmented) banks, they want to be a middleman for (fragmented) AI models as tokens are the new currency. As AI agents/harness/human are spenders of tokens, enabling them to derisk from being locked to a specific model provider & allowing to (re)route to any model at anytime for better leverage in a single API, similar to how they are doing for payments.
• andruby 28d ago
  paying for data access, for "deterministic computing", for letting the AI use online services. Maybe even micro payments for using tested and verified skills/mcps. Example: access to real-time stock trading data, access to weather information, letting it make stock trades, etc. At first I was confused why Stripe bought OpenRouter, but I think this makes sense.