openrouter run out of credit | Friends of the Crustacean 🦞🤝 | Page 1

distant coral Apr 29, 2026, 10:18 AM

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I created an API key on OpenRouter, and it's free and unlimited, but OpenClaw is giving me a message:

OpenRouter (OpenRouter/Auto) returned a billing error — your API key has run out of credits or has an insufficient balance. Check your OpenRouter billing dashboard and top up or switch to a different API key. some one can help me 🙁

marble sparrowBOT Apr 29, 2026, 10:18 AM

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To help others find answers, you can mark your question as solved via Right click solution message -> Apps -> ✅ Mark Solution

cedar cloudBOT Apr 29, 2026, 10:21 AM

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Yep — the confusing part is openrouter/auto is not “free-only.” OpenClaw’s OpenRouter onboarding defaults to openrouter/auto, and OpenRouter says Auto routes to high-quality models and charges the routed model’s price. (docs.openclaw.ai)

Try switching to free-only:

openclaw --version
openclaw models status
openclaw models set openrouter/free
openclaw gateway restart

Or pick a concrete free model:

openclaw models scan --set-default
openclaw gateway restart

#openrouter run out of credit