How to Track OpenRouter Usage, Credits, and Token Costs on Mac

OpenRouter makes it easy to call many AI models through one API, but that convenience can make usage harder to understand. Your spend can be distributed across models, providers, API keys, and BYOK traffic. A useful OpenRouter tracker needs to answer more than "how many requests did I send?"

What OpenRouter Usage Data Is Available?

OpenRouter's API exposes key-level usage information. The current key endpoint can return credit limits, remaining credits, and daily, weekly, and monthly usage. OpenRouter also documents that completion responses include detailed usage information, including prompt tokens, completion tokens, total tokens, and cost.

See the OpenRouter limits documentation and API reference.

OpenRouter Free Model Limits

OpenRouter documents separate limits for model IDs ending in :free. The current documentation states up to 20 requests per minute, with daily limits that depend on purchased credits. Check the official docs before relying on a free route for production traffic.

How to Track OpenRouter Usage on macOS

• Monitor daily and monthly credit usage.
• Track token volume and cost by model.
• Separate OpenRouter credits from BYOK usage.
• Watch free-model traffic separately from paid production routes.

Why a Menu Bar View Helps

OpenRouter already provides useful dashboards and APIs. The missing piece during focused work is an ambient view. A Mac menu bar tracker lets you notice a cost spike or shrinking credit balance without interrupting the task to open the Activity page.

See the OpenRouter usage tracker for Mac.