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OpenRouter Alternatives for Chinese Models and Video APIs

HopBase Oct 31, 2026 30 min read

The short answer: if you only need Western and Chinese chat models behind one OpenAI-compatible key, OpenRouter already covers DeepSeek, Qwen, GLM, Kimi and ByteDance Seed, and its catalog now includes some video models too. Teams look elsewhere for three reasons: video depth (Seedance, Kling and Hailuo with every variant), payment methods (Alipay, WeChat Pay, AlipayHK alongside cards), and team cost control. fal.ai and Replicate are the strongest media-first platforms. Atlas Cloud and WaveSpeedAI combine media models with an OpenAI-compatible LLM endpoint. HopBase puts Claude (on native Anthropic Messages), GPT, Gemini, the five Chinese LLM families and Seedance, Kling, Hailuo H3 and Wan video behind one key with USD billing. The table below records only what each vendor's public pages said on 2026-10-31. Switching is mostly a base URL, key and model ID change.

How we compared

Every cell in the table comes from the vendor's own public pages, linked under the table, and was checked on 2026-10-31. If a page did not say something, the cell says "not listed". That does not mean the feature is missing. It means we could not confirm it from a public page. Catalogs change weekly, so check the linked page before you decide.

We compared seven things that matter when your stack mixes Western LLMs, Chinese LLMs and media generation:

  • OpenAI-compatible: can you point the OpenAI SDK at it by changing base_url?
  • Anthropic Messages native: is there a documented /v1/messages-style endpoint, so Claude Code and the Anthropic SDK work without a translation layer?
  • Chinese LLMs: DeepSeek, Qwen, GLM, Kimi, Doubao / ByteDance Seed.
  • Video generation: Seedance, Kling, Hailuo / MiniMax (plus Wan where listed).
  • Image generation.
  • Payment methods.
  • Team billing: shared balance, roles, per-member or per-key control.

Comparison table (checked on 2026-10-31)

OpenAI-compatible Anthropic Messages native Chinese LLMs Video (Seedance / Kling / Hailuo) Image generation Payment methods Team billing
OpenRouter Yes, https://openrouter.ai/api/v1 Documented for Claude Code (ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL=https://openrouter.ai/api) DeepSeek, Qwen, GLM (z-ai/), Kimi (moonshotai/), ByteDance Seed Seedance 2.5 / 2.0; Kling v3.0 / O1; MiniMax H3 Max; also Wan 3.0 Yes (e.g. Seedream 4.5 / 5.0) Major credit cards, Alipay, USDC Organizations with a shared credit pool, admin and member roles
fal.ai Yes, through its OpenRouter-powered chat endpoint (fal.run/openrouter/router/openai/v1) Not listed Through that endpoint (page names DeepSeek and Qwen) Seedance 2.0 Fast / Mini; Kling v2.5 to v3 and O3; MiniMax H3 Max Yes (Nano Banana, GPT Image 2, FLUX, Seedream) Payment card or ACH (terms); invoicing for higher volume Teams with their own billing and a Billing role; organizations above teams
Replicate Not listed (own predictions API) Not listed DeepSeek V3.x / R1, Qwen3, Kimi K2.5; GLM and Seed not listed Seedance 2.0; Kling 4.0 / 3.0; Hailuo 2.3 / 02; also Wan 3.0 Yes Credit card, debit card or bank transfer (terms) Organizations share billing, tokens and dashboards
Atlas Cloud Yes, https://api.atlascloud.ai/v1 Documented for Claude Code in its Coding Plan docs DeepSeek, Qwen, GLM, Kimi, Doubao named Seedance 2.5 / 2.0; Kling 4.0 / V3; MiniMax H3, Hailuo 2.3; also Wan 3.0 Yes Cards (Stripe), Alipay, WeChat Pay, crypto; $25 minimum top-up Team accounts with role-based access
WaveSpeedAI Yes, https://llm.wavespeed.ai/v1 Not listed DeepSeek, Qwen, GLM, Kimi; Seed not listed Seedance 2.5 / 2.0; Kling V4.0; MiniMax H3; also Wan 3.0 Yes Cards (Stripe), PayPal, WeChat Pay, Alipay, Naver Pay "Create Team" in console; details not listed
HopBase Yes, https://api.hop-base.com/v1 Yes, https://api.hop-base.com (no /v1) for Claude, Claude Code and some other families DeepSeek, Qwen, GLM, Kimi, Doubao Seed Seedance 2.5 / 2.0 (China and overseas IDs); Kling v4 / v3 / Omni / motion control / avatar; MiniMax Hailuo H3 / H3-Max; also Wan 3.0 / HappyHorse 1.1, Grok Imagine Yes (GPT Image, Gemini image, Seedream, Midjourney, Kling Image, Grok Imagine) USD: Visa / Mastercard, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Alipay, AlipayHK, WeChat Pay Members, departments, quotas at key / member / department level, per-key creator, CSV export

Sources (all checked on 2026-10-31): OpenRouter quickstart, Claude Code guide, video collection, ByteDance Seed models, Kling models, public models API, FAQ, organization management · fal.ai pricing, OpenAI-compatible chat endpoint, teams, organizations, terms, FAQ · Replicate text-to-video collection, language models, billing, organizations, terms · Atlas Cloud homepage, LLM docs, Coding Plan API, top-up and payments · WaveSpeedAI models, LLM catalog, payment methods · HopBase pricing, docs, llms.txt.

What the table tells you

For chat-only stacks, OpenRouter is hard to beat on breadth. Its public model list has the newest DeepSeek, Qwen, GLM and Kimi IDs, and Claude Code can point at it directly. If that is all you need, you may not need to switch.

For media-heavy products, fal.ai and Replicate run the deepest media catalogs. Both list Seedance, Kling and MiniMax models, plus image models, with their own SDKs and queue APIs. Their LLM side is either routed through a separate endpoint (fal) or uses a model-by-model predictions API (Replicate). So a team that also runs Claude or GPT agents usually keeps a second provider.

The "one key for chat and video" group is newer. Atlas Cloud, WaveSpeedAI and HopBase all expose an OpenAI-compatible chat endpoint next to a video task API. The differences are in protocol coverage (Anthropic Messages), which Chinese families are listed, how you can pay, and how much control you get over team spend.

Where HopBase fits, and where it does not

HopBase is built for teams that run Claude Code or Claude agents, GPT, Gemini and Chinese models side by side, and that also generate video:

  • Two native protocols on one key. Claude uses Anthropic Messages at https://api.hop-base.com. GPT, Gemini, GLM, Qwen, DeepSeek, Kimi and Grok use the OpenAI protocol at https://api.hop-base.com/v1. Gemini, DeepSeek and Doubao Seed are also served on /v1/messages.
  • Groups on a key. A key includes 1 to 10 groups across platforms (for example Claude, DeepSeek, Seedance and Kling). GET /v1/models returns exactly what that key can call, and each request is billed by the group that serves it.
  • One task loop for video. Seedance, Kling and Hailuo H3 share POST /v1/video/generate and GET /v1/video/tasks/{task_id}. Failed tasks are not billed, result links last 24 hours, and every finished task returns its actual USD charge in usage.cost_usd.
  • Team controls. Members, departments, quotas at three levels, and a Usage page that exports itemized CSV with the official cost and the charged amount on every row.

What HopBase does not do, so you can rule it out quickly:

  • No embeddings, audio transcription, Files, Batch, Assistants, fine-tuning or moderation endpoints.
  • No OpenRouter-style models fallback lists, provider routing or :online / :free suffixes.
  • Claude is not available on /v1/chat/completions. Use the Anthropic SDK.
  • A key reaches only the groups you add to it, not "every model" by default.

Model availability and source attributes are published on the pricing page. HopBase does not claim that every request goes directly to the model maker, and it publishes a reproducible fidelity test you can run against any provider, including us.

How to switch from OpenRouter

You change three values: the base URL, the key, and the model string (HopBase uses bare IDs with no vendor prefix). Drop the OpenRouter attribution headers.

 import os
 from openai import OpenAI

 client = OpenAI(
-    base_url="https://openrouter.ai/api/v1",
-    api_key=os.environ["OPENROUTER_API_KEY"],
-    default_headers={"HTTP-Referer": "https://your-app.example", "X-Title": "Your App"},
+    base_url="https://api.hop-base.com/v1",
+    api_key=os.environ["HOPBASE_API_KEY"],
 )

 resp = client.chat.completions.create(
-    model="deepseek/deepseek-v4.1-flash",
+    model="deepseek-v4.1-flash",
     messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Reply with only: ok"}],
 )
 print(resp.choices[0].message.content)

Then check what the key can reach before you change any model names:

curl https://api.hop-base.com/v1/models \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $HOPBASE_API_KEY"

If you called Claude through OpenRouter's OpenAI-compatible endpoint, move those calls to the Anthropic SDK with base_url="https://api.hop-base.com" and a key that includes a Claude group. For Claude Code, set ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL=https://api.hop-base.com. The full checklist, including what is not supported, is in Switch to HopBase.

A video task is a separate call on the same base URL:

curl https://api.hop-base.com/v1/video/generate \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $HOPBASE_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "model": "dreamina-seedance-2-5-260628",
    "content": [{"type": "text", "text": "An orange cat runs across sunlit grass as the camera follows"}],
    "duration": 5,
    "resolution": "720p",
    "ratio": "16:9"
  }'
# then poll GET /v1/video/tasks/{task.id} every ~5 seconds

For all four video schemas side by side, see Chinese AI video APIs outside China. For the Chinese chat models, see One API key for DeepSeek, Qwen, GLM, Kimi and Doubao.

How to choose in five questions

  1. Do you need video at all? If not, compare chat providers on protocol coverage and price, and check whether Claude Code needs a native Anthropic endpoint.
  2. Which exact model versions? "Seedance" can mean 1.x, 2.0 Fast, 2.0 Mini or 2.5. Check the provider's model page for the exact ID you need.
  3. How will you pay? If your finance team or customers pay with Alipay, WeChat Pay or AlipayHK, confirm that the provider lists them.
  4. Who on your team spends money? Shared credit pools are common; per-member and per-department quotas are not.
  5. Can you verify what you are getting? Run the same prompt through a fidelity test before you move production traffic.

FAQ

Is HopBase a drop-in replacement for OpenRouter?

For OpenAI-compatible chat calls, mostly yes: change the base URL, the key and the model ID (no vendor prefix). OpenRouter-specific features such as fallback model lists, provider routing and :free / :online suffixes are not supported, and Claude moves to the Anthropic Messages endpoint.

Does OpenRouter have Seedance and Kling?

On 2026-10-31 its public pages listed Seedance 2.5, 2.0 and 2.0 Fast, Kling v3.0 Pro / Std and Kling O1, MiniMax H3 Max and Wan 3.0. Check its video collection for the current list.

Which providers accept Alipay or WeChat Pay?

From their public pages on 2026-10-31: OpenRouter lists Alipay; Atlas Cloud and WaveSpeedAI list Alipay and WeChat Pay; HopBase lists Alipay, AlipayHK and WeChat Pay alongside Visa / Mastercard, Apple Pay and Google Pay. fal.ai's and Replicate's pages we checked list cards and bank payments only.

Can one HopBase key call Claude, DeepSeek and Seedance?

Yes, if the key includes all three groups (up to 10 groups per key). Claude goes to https://api.hop-base.com over Anthropic Messages. DeepSeek goes to https://api.hop-base.com/v1 over the OpenAI protocol. Seedance uses POST /v1/video/generate on the same /v1 base URL.

How is HopBase priced compared with official prices?

The pricing page lists each model's official list price. Your own rate depends on your groups and is shown in the console, and every non-streaming response and finished task reports the exact USD amount charged.

Do I need a VPN to use HopBase from mainland China?

No. HopBase can be reached directly from mainland China without a proxy, and also from outside China.

Model choiceOpenRouterVideo generation