Cost guide
OpenRouter vs OpenAI Costs for SEO Audits
A single GetSEO audit sends a few thousand tokens of page content and gets back a structured report. That makes cost per audit small either way, but the two routes differ in how much choice, control and failover you get.
Step by step
- 1
Understand what an audit actually costs
One audit is roughly a handful of input pages plus a structured response. On mid tier models this lands in fractions of a cent to a few cents. Volume, not model price, is what makes a bill.
- 2
OpenAI: one account, predictable behaviour
You get first party models, stable IDs and the best structured output reliability. You pay list price with no discount routing, and you are limited to that one catalogue.
- 3
OpenRouter: one key, every catalogue
A single key reaches models from many labs, including genuinely free tiers on some open weight models. Prices are per model and often undercut going direct, and you can switch models without touching billing.
- 4
Match the model to the job
Use a cheap fast model for scanning and scoring, and a stronger model when you want copy rewrites you can actually paste in. GetSEO lets you set the model per key.
- 5
Use a key pool
Add both providers in the settings drawer. If one hits a quota or rate limit mid run, GetSEO fails over to the next key instead of losing the audit.
Open the settings drawer from the top bar, add the key, and it is saved in your browser only. You can add several keys and GetSEO will fail over between them automatically.
Worth knowing
- For casual auditing, a free tier model through OpenRouter or Groq usually costs nothing at all.
- For client-facing reports, spend the few cents on a stronger model; the rewrite quality is where the value sits.
- Set a hard spend cap on any billed account before you start batch auditing.
Troubleshooting
| Problem | Fix |
|---|---|
| Insufficient credits on OpenRouter | Top up credits, or select one of the free tier models in the settings drawer. |
| OpenAI quota exceeded | The account has no billing balance. Add credit, or switch that key's provider to a free option. |
| Wildly different results between runs | You are comparing different models. Fix the model per key so reports stay consistent for a client. |
Key ready? Run your free audit.
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