UnoRouter vs MegaLLM: same coder gateway, plus a chat client
MegaLLM is a popular frontier-model gateway for coding agents. UnoRouter does the same job and adds a built-in chat and character client. The difference is whether you only ship code or also want a place to chat.
MegaLLM grew one of the biggest communities in this space as a clean gateway for coding agents: one OpenAI-compatible key, frontier models, automatic failover. UnoRouter is the same kind of gateway, with one addition that decides the fit. Here is the honest comparison from one of the two.
We are in the same lane
Both UnoRouter and MegaLLM are OpenAI-compatible gateways built for developers. Both put GPT, Claude, and Gemini behind one key, both do automatic failover when a provider goes down, both drop into Claude Code, Codex, and OpenCode with a base-URL swap. If your goal is pointing a coding agent at frontier models without juggling provider keys, either one does that. So the catalog and the failover are not where the decision is.
Catalog and pricing
MegaLLM advertises 70+ frontier and vision models and markets itself on cost, up to 60% cheaper than going direct through cost-aware routing, with plans from about $10/mo plus pay-as-you-go. UnoRouter carries 200+ models, a broader catalog that includes the open and roleplay-tuned models MegaLLM's frontier-only focus leaves out, also pay-as-you-go, with credits that do not expire and a free tier for prototyping. If you only ever call GPT and Claude, the price-per-token story is the comparison. If you want the wider catalog, UnoRouter simply has more of it.
The part MegaLLM does not have
MegaLLM is a headless gateway, an API and a dashboard, nothing to chat in. UnoRouter is the gateway plus a built-in chat and character client: personas, lorebooks, presets, SillyTavern card import, and the same key drops into SillyTavern, Janitor.AI, RisuAI, or Chub. So the one key that drives your coding agent also runs a real character chat, for work and for play. That is the line between a pure dev gateway and a 2-in-1.
Switching is a base-URL change
Like MegaLLM, UnoRouter is OpenAI-compatible, so moving over is one line: point your client at https://api.unorouter.com/v1 and keep your code. The same key pasted into a chat client's custom-endpoint field reaches the same catalog, so there is no second account, and no separate tool for the chat side.
Which should you pick
If you only ship code and want a lean frontier-model gateway optimized for token cost, MegaLLM is a solid choice and its community shows it. If you want one key that drives your coding agents and a built-in chat and character client off the same balance and a wider catalog, that is the gap UnoRouter fills. There is no single winner. It depends on whether a pure dev gateway is enough, or you want the chat client built in.
Want the gateway and the chat in one? Create a free account or browse the models.
RisuAI is the power-user RP frontend. UnoRouter ported its engine (lorebooks, CBS macros, triggers, regex, card import) into a hosted product where the same key also drives coding agents. Not a rival, a 2-in-1.
LiteLLM is the most popular self-hosted LLM proxy. UnoRouter is a hosted gateway with a built-in chat client. The real choice is whether you want to run the infrastructure yourself.
We wired 18 free providers into UnoRouter: 126 free model rows, one OpenAI-compatible endpoint, $0 per token. They are free for a reason and carry rate limits we cannot raise. Here is the honest version.