Conclusion
- Do not choose by token price alone; choose by accepted feature cost.
- OpenAI-compatible endpoints reduce migration risk for early SaaS teams.
- Budget caps and per-customer logs are mandatory before paid users or agents run.
- A gateway is worth it when you need fallback, routing, and one key across app features.
What to do next
- List every AI feature in the MVP and estimate monthly calls per workspace.
- Move provider settings into env vars: baseURL, apiKey, model, timeout, and max tokens.
- Run the same tasks through two low-cost providers and one fallback model.
- Log route, model, tokens, latency, retries, user/workspace, and accepted outcome.
- Use OpenLLMAPI when direct provider keys become hard to manage across features or teammates.
Recommended paths
| Provider | Free / credits | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| DeepSeek | Verify current pricing | Low-cost reasoning and coding features |
| Qwen | Signup credits vary | China-friendly bilingual SaaS workflows |
| Zhipu GLM | Signup tokens vary | Domestic fallback and GLM experiments |
| OpenRouter/Groq | Free routes vary | Fast MVP demos and model shopping |
| OpenLLMAPI | Trial varies | One compatible endpoint with budgets and fallback |
Global developer checklist
- Confirm whether signup, billing, and API keys work from your country before writing production code.
- Prefer OpenAI-compatible endpoints when you may need to switch models, regions, or providers later.
- Test free credits with a real smoke prompt and record latency, error shape, streaming behavior, and quota burn.
- Keep at least one fallback route for provider outages, model deprecations, and regional access changes.
Production handoff
Give your SaaS MVP one controllable model route
Keep OpenAI-compatible code, add cheap primary routes, fallback, and spend logs per user or workspace.
FAQ
Is OpenAI compatibility enough for my SaaS?
No. Test streaming, JSON mode, tool calls, embeddings if used, error bodies, rate limits, and retries.
Which provider is cheapest for SaaS?
It depends on your feature mix. Compare cost per accepted outcome, not only input/output token price.
When should I add fallback?
Before paid users, background jobs, or agent loops. Fallback prevents failed tasks and runaway retries.
Should I use direct keys or a gateway?
Start direct for one feature. Use a gateway when you need logs, budgets, model routing, or one key for multiple providers.