# Pharos is taking you through this one.
# Free, and it runs right here. No signup.
$ learn OpenRouter
Learn OpenRouter in 5 minutes.
OpenRouter puts one API in front of hundreds of models from every provider. Change a model name and the same code talks to a different model; set fallbacks and it reroutes when one is down. Your five minutes go to routing a request, reading the cost, and setting a fallback that actually triggers.
# 5 minutes, no install
# interactive, not a video
# Lesson not loading? Open it in a new tab. It is the same free lesson either way.
One endpoint, many models
Every provider has a slightly different API. OpenRouter speaks one dialect and translates, which is what makes model choice a config change instead of a rewrite.
provider/model
You choose a model by name, like a path. Same request body, different name, different model. Prices and context windows are listed next to each.
Plan B in the request
List several models and OpenRouter tries the next when one fails or rate-limits. This is how you manage the randomness of any single provider.
Per token, visible
Every request reports what it cost. Cheap models for easy calls, expensive ones for hard calls, and the bill shows whether the routing worked.
What you will do in the lesson
You answer and try things. Nobody demonstrates at you for five minutes.
- Send one request. You make a call with one model and read the response and its cost line.
- Swap the model. You change only the model string and compare answer and price.
- Set a fallback. You list two models and force the first to fail to see the second take over.
- Route by difficulty. You send easy and hard prompts to different models and check the cost difference.
- Read a week of usage. You end with a usage report and decide where the money went and what to change.
Before you start
Is OpenRouter free?
There is no subscription; you pay for the tokens you use at roughly provider prices, with some free models available.
Does it work with existing code?
Yes, it is compatible with the OpenAI API format, so most client libraries work with a base URL change.
Does it slow requests down?
Slightly, from the extra hop. For most products that is invisible; for latency-critical paths, measure.
Why does Scholé use it?
Fallback models. When one provider has a bad hour, lessons keep running on another without a deploy.
Other tools people learn next
Same format, same five minutes, still free.
Learners from these organizations are already learning on 
