A new open-source tool called Claude Code Router allows developers to significantly reduce their expenses when using Anthropic's Claude Code by redirecting requests to cheaper AI models. This TypeScript proxy intercepts API calls and forwards them to alternative providers like DeepSeek, Gemini, or local Ollama instances, making them appear as if they are still communicating with Claude. The tool offers substantial cost savings, with one model being over 50 times cheaper for output tokens, and also enables Claude Code usage in regions where Anthropic does not directly operate. However, users may experience a degradation in certain functionalities such as prompt caching and tool-use strictness. AI
IMPACT Enables significant cost reduction for users of Claude Code by leveraging alternative, cheaper models.
RANK_REASON This is a third-party tool that integrates with an existing AI product, rather than a release from a frontier lab.
Read on dev.to — Claude Code tag →
- Anthropic
- Claude Code
- Claude Code Router
- Claude Sonnet 4.6
- DeepSeek
- DeepSeek-V4-Flash
- Gemini
- GLM-4.5
- Ollama
- OpenRouter
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