Simple pricing. No surprises.
Card credits for registered API keys or USDC per request on Base. No credit purchase fees, no hidden charges, no VC investors to pay back.
- Current provider-verified free models
- No credit card needed
- Community rate limits
- OpenAI-compatible API
- Waterfall smart routing
Good for: Experimentation, hobby projects, learning
Start Free- Every active model in the live catalogue
- Card credits via Stripe with a $10 minimum
- USDC on Base via x402 for individual paid requests
- Card-funded requests debit the quoted request price
- Image generation settles against its provider-priced image cost
- Free models still free
Good for: Production apps, indie developers, agents
Get StartedCard credits: $10 min- Custom rates below 4%
- Dedicated support from Julie
- SLA guarantees
- Custom model configurations
- Priority bug fixes
Good for: High-volume users, startups scaling up
Contact JulieWaterfall vs OpenRouter
They raised $40M. We didn't. Guess who's cheaper.
| Feature | OpenRouter | Waterfall |
|---|---|---|
| Credit purchase fee | 5.5% | None |
| Pricing model | Per-token + 5.5% credit fee | Card credits or direct x402 payment |
| Free catalogue | Varies over time | Live provider-verified list |
| Hidden fees | Credit purchase fee | None |
| Funding | $40M VC-backed | Bootstrapped |
| Team size | 20+ engineers | Julie + Claude |
Strategy Pricing
Strategy availability and model membership come from the live routing registry, not a pricing-page snapshot.
Waterfall quotes the applicable request price before settlement. Free eligible routes remain free; paid routes use card credit or direct x402 settlement.
View live strategiesFrequently asked questions
No sales calls. Just answers.
How does pricing work?
Card payments add prepaid credit to the registered API key that starts Checkout. Paid requests funded by that balance debit Waterfall's quoted request price; image generation settles against its provider-priced image cost. x402 is a separate USDC-on-Base payment for an individual paid request. Free models are always free.
Why is it cheaper than OpenRouter?
We're bootstrapped. One person, low overhead, no investors demanding returns. No VC money to burn, so we keep costs low. Your money goes to AI providers, not our office lease.
Is there a minimum spend?
The free tier requires no payment info. Card credits have a $10 minimum. x402 settles each paid request directly, so it does not require a credit top-up.
Do you support crypto payments?
Yes. USDC on Base via x402 pays individual paid requests directly. An x402-enabled client receives the HTTP 402 terms, pays, and retries the request.
Can I pay by card?
Yes. Card credits run through Stripe Checkout with a $10 minimum and fund the registered API key used to start checkout.
What about rate limits?
Free tier gets community rate limits -- enough for development and hobby projects. Paid tier gets generous limits based on your spend. Volume customers get custom limits.
Can I use this in production?
Yes. We have uptime monitoring, fallback routing across multiple providers, and automatic failover. If one provider goes down, your requests route to the next one -- that's the waterfall.
Stop overpaying for AI
Same models, lower prices. No credit fees, no hidden charges. Built by one person who actually uses this stuff.