I’ve been using Claude for a while, and as we all know the limits have become pretty unusable. So I decided to try OpenRouter running Claude as the agent with different models underneath.
I started with smaller models (Qwen, Gemma 3.6) but their output was obviously lacking compared to Sonnet. Then I tried heavier models like deepseek v4 Pro, MiniMax 2.7, and GLM 5.1 for planning, with lighter models handling the actual coding. That combo works pretty well, but it costs a lot even for simple things(to the point it’s cheaper that i just subscribe into a higher tier of claude).
I’m pretty sure there’s a context problem somewhere I’m just honestly not sure where to start picking it apart.
any recommendations where i could learn some more on how to improve openrouter?