Openrouter vs Replicate
A side-by-side look at the Openrouter and Replicate 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 Replicate 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 Replicate when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the Conversational AI domain.
- You prefer a local stdio subprocess transport.
- You have the keys it needs:
PLATFORM_REPLICATE_KEY. - You want tools like
list_models, model, model_versions.
Feature & specification comparison
Rows where the two servers differ are marked.
| Spec | ||
|---|---|---|
| Category | Conversational AI | Conversational AI |
| Quality signal | 56/100 · Good | 57/100 · 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 | PLATFORM_REPLICATE_KEY |
| Verified owner | Community listing | Community listing |
| GitHub stars | 0 | 0 |
| Directory activity | 1 views 0 installs 0 upvotes | 1 views 0 installs 0 upvotes |
| Tools | 3 | 16 |
| Full listing | View Openrouter | View Replicate |
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.
Replicate tools 16
list_modelsList all public models available on Replicate, paginated via cursor; returns owner, name, description, run count, and latest version id for each model.modelFetch metadata for a specific Replicate model by owner and name, including description, visibility, run count, latest version, and GitHub URL.model_versionsList all published versions of a Replicate model by owner and name; returns version ids, creation timestamps, and input/output schema for each version.model_versionFetch full metadata for a specific Replicate model version by owner, name, and version_id, including the complete input/output OpenAPI schema and Cog version.search_modelsSearch public Replicate models by keyword query; returns matching models with owner, name, description, and run count.collectionsList all curated Replicate model collections (e.g. "text-to-image", "speech-to-text"); returns collection slug, name, and description.collectionFetch models belonging to a specific Replicate collection by slug (e.g. "text-to-image"); returns the collection description and a list of model objects.create_predictionStart a Replicate model run by submitting a version id and input object; returns a prediction id and status that can be polled with the prediction tool until output is ready.predictionPoll the status and retrieve output for a Replicate prediction by id; returns status (starting/processing/succeeded/failed/canceled), output URLs, and logs.list_predictionsList your recent Replicate predictions in reverse chronological order, paginated via cursor; returns prediction id, model version, status, and creation timestamp.cancel_predictionCancel a prediction.list_deploymentsList your Replicate model deployments (dedicated, auto-scaled endpoints), paginated via cursor; returns owner, name, current model version, and scaling config.- +4 more on the listing page
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"
]
}
}
}
Replicate
{
"mcpServers": {
"replicate": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"@pipeworx/mcp-replicate"
],
"env": {
"PLATFORM_REPLICATE_KEY": "YOUR_PLATFORM_REPLICATE_KEY_HERE"
}
}
}
}
Frequently asked questions
Openrouter is categorized under Conversational AI and uses a local stdio subprocess. Replicate belongs to Conversational AI and uses a local stdio subprocess. Pick Openrouter for conversational ai work and Replicate 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. Replicate 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 replicate 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 56/100 (Good) with 1 views, 0 installs and 0 GitHub stars. Replicate has 57/100 (Good) with 1 views, 0 installs and 0 GitHub stars.