Best Janitor AI proxy in 2026: free and paid options compared

A Janitor AI proxy is an OpenAI compatible API you connect in Janitor's API Settings. The best one for roleplay serves strong models like DeepSeek and GLM with a usable rate limit. UnoRouter offers them free at about one request per minute per model, with no daily cap and paid models on the same key.

Janitor AI's own model is free but limited, so most people who roleplay seriously plug in a proxy. Which one is best depends on three things: which models it serves, how often you can send a message, and what it costs once you are hooked. Here is how to judge them, and an honest look at the options.

What a proxy does in Janitor AI

In Janitor AI, a proxy is any OpenAI compatible API you connect under API Settings. Janitor sends your chat to that address instead of its own model, and the proxy answers with the model you named. You fill in three things: the Proxy URL, a Model Name and an API key. Nothing about your characters changes; only the brain behind them does.

What makes a proxy good for roleplay

Model quality first: long roleplay needs a model that follows the character card and remembers the story, and the DeepSeek and GLM families do this best among the free ones. Rate limits second: a free model you can message once a minute feels very different from one capped at a few dozen messages a day. Then uptime, price and privacy: whether the model is there tonight, what you pay once you want more, and who keeps your prompts.

The options compared

UnoRouter: one key for free DeepSeek, GLM and more than 100 other free models, about one request per minute per model, and paid models from the same account when you want more. OpenRouter: a wide catalog, but its free models are capped at 50 requests a day until you have bought $10 of credits. A model's official API such as DeepSeek's: reliable and cheap per token, but paid only and limited to that one company's models. Subscription proxies: a flat monthly price for heavy users, worth it only if you chat a lot every day.

Free or paid?

Free models are enough for most roleplay. Their limit is speed, not quality: on UnoRouter you wait about a minute between messages to the same model, and switching to another free model resets the wait. Pay when you want long sessions without waiting, or a frontier model like Claude. Pay as you go means you only spend on the evenings you actually chat.

How to set it up

In Janitor AI open API Settings, add a configuration, paste https://api.unorouter.com/v1/chat/completions as the Proxy URL, a model such as deepseek-v4.1-flash-1017:free as the Model Name, and your key. Save, then hard refresh the page. The Janitor AI proxy guide walks through every field and the errors people hit.

Which one to pick

Want free roleplay with good models and no daily cap? UnoRouter. Already pay for OpenRouter credits? Keep it. Only ever use one model and chat for hours daily? Its official API or a subscription can be cheaper. Whatever you choose, test two or three free models with the same character before you settle; the difference between them is bigger than the difference between proxies.

Ready to try it? Create a free account, then follow the Janitor AI proxy guide or browse the free models.