Openrouter vs Promptheus
A side-by-side look at the Openrouter and Promptheus MCP servers: transport, auth, tools, quality signals, and the config to install either one in Claude, Cursor, Windsurf or VS Code.
Verdict: choose Openrouter for conversational ai work as a local process; choose Promptheus for conversational ai as a local process. You can also run both side by side in one mcpServers block.
Which MCP server should you choose?
Choose Openrouter when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the Conversational AI domain.
- You prefer a local stdio subprocess transport.
- You want tools like
list_models, get_model, compare_models.
Choose Promptheus when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the Conversational AI domain.
- You prefer a local stdio subprocess transport.
- You have the keys it needs:
GOOGLE_API_KEY, ANTHROPIC_API_KEY, OPENAI_API_KEY, GROQ_API_KEY, DASHSCOPE_API_KEY, ZHIPUAI_API_KEY, OPENROUTER_API_KEY. - You want tools like
refine_prompt, tweak_prompt, list_models.
Feature & specification comparison
Rows where the two servers differ are marked.
| Spec | ||
|---|---|---|
| Category | Conversational AI | Conversational AI |
| Quality signal | 51/100 · Good | 55/100 · Good |
| Install command | Confirmed | Confirmed |
| Transport | Local subprocess (stdio) | Local subprocess (stdio) |
| Auth | Not declared | Not declared |
| Pricing | Not declared | Not declared |
| Required env vars | None listed | GOOGLE_API_KEYANTHROPIC_API_KEYOPENAI_API_KEYGROQ_API_KEYDASHSCOPE_API_KEYZHIPUAI_API_KEYOPENROUTER_API_KEY |
| Verified owner | Community listing | Community listing |
| GitHub stars | 0 | 17 |
| Directory activity | 0 views 0 installs 0 upvotes | 0 views 0 installs 0 upvotes |
| Tools | 3 | 5 |
| Full listing | View Openrouter | View Promptheus |
Tools & capabilities
Openrouter tools 3
list_modelsList LLMs from the OpenRouter catalog (~340 models across all major providers) with normalized $/1M-token pricing, context windows, and modality. Filter by search, free-only, minimum context, or modality (e.g. "image" for vision models). Sorted cheapest-first by completion price. Keyless.get_modelGet full details for one OpenRouter model by id — normalized $/1M pricing (prompt, completion, plus per-request/image/web-search costs), context window, modality, supported parameters, tokenizer, knowledge cutoff. e.g. id "anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.5". Keyless.compare_modelsSide-by-side comparison of pricing ($/1M tokens), context window, and modality for 2-5 OpenRouter models. Answers "is claude-sonnet-4.5 cheaper than gpt-4o". Keyless.
Promptheus tools 5
refine_promptIntelligent prompt refinement with optional clarification questions.tweak_promptApply targeted modifications to existing prompts.list_modelsDiscover available models from configured providers.list_providersCheck provider configuration status.validate_environmentTest environment configuration and API connectivity.
Ready-to-paste client configs
Paste either block (or both) into your client config, e.g. claude_desktop_config.json or ~/.cursor/mcp.json. We only show a config when the install command is confirmed.
Openrouter
{
"mcpServers": {
"openrouter": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"@pipeworx/mcp-openrouter"
]
}
}
}
Promptheus
{
"mcpServers": {
"promptheus": {
"command": "uvx",
"args": [
"promptheus"
],
"env": {
"GOOGLE_API_KEY": "YOUR_GOOGLE_API_KEY_HERE",
"ANTHROPIC_API_KEY": "YOUR_ANTHROPIC_API_KEY_HERE",
"OPENAI_API_KEY": "YOUR_OPENAI_API_KEY_HERE",
"GROQ_API_KEY": "YOUR_GROQ_API_KEY_HERE",
"DASHSCOPE_API_KEY": "YOUR_DASHSCOPE_API_KEY_HERE",
"ZHIPUAI_API_KEY": "YOUR_ZHIPUAI_API_KEY_HERE",
"OPENROUTER_API_KEY": "YOUR_OPENROUTER_API_KEY_HERE"
}
}
}
}
Frequently asked questions
Openrouter is categorized under Conversational AI and uses a local stdio subprocess. Promptheus belongs to Conversational AI and uses a local stdio subprocess. Pick Openrouter for conversational ai work and Promptheus for conversational ai.
Copy the mcpServers block from the config section on this page into your client's config (for example claude_desktop_config.json or ~/.cursor/mcp.json), then fully restart the client.
Openrouter has no declared pricing — check the project's own site. Promptheus has no declared pricing — check the project's own site. If a server needs environment variables such as API keys, define them under the env key in your client's MCP config.
Yes. MCP clients support multiple servers: add openrouter and promptheus as separate keys in the same mcpServers object, and your assistant will call tools from either one.
On AllMCPs, Openrouter has a quality signal of 51/100 (Good) with 0 views, 0 installs and 0 GitHub stars. Promptheus has 55/100 (Good) with 0 views, 0 installs and 17 GitHub stars.