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Payment Issues - Common Fixes

Updated

Overview

This article helps developers and end users diagnose and resolve common payment issues on OpenRouter. It covers missing credits, declined cards, unexpected charges, free model billing, refunds, invoice problems, and how to respond to unauthorized activity. Each section includes step-by-step actions, where to look in the dashboard, and what to provide when contacting support.

 

Fixing Common Payment Problems

Below are targeted, numbered steps for each common issue. Follow them in order and stop once the problem is resolved.

1) Credits not appearing after payment

  1. Wait 15 minutes after payment. Crypto and payment processors can take time to finalize. In many cases credits appear within 10 to 15 minutes.
  2. Open the Credits page: https://openrouter.ai/settings/credits and verify your balance.
  3. If credits still do not appear after 30 minutes, gather transaction details and open a support ticket.
  4. If you have created an organization, check whether you mistakenly bought credits on your personal account. If you would like to transfer these credits, open a support ticket.

What to include in the ticket: Your account email, a screenshot of the credits page, transaction date, and payment amount.

2) Card declined during payment

  1. Confirm with your bank whether the decline was due to international transactions, fraud protection, or merchant restrictions.
  2. Enable international payments on the card if applicable.
  3. Try a different card.

3) Unexpected or higher-than-expected charges

  1. Check the Activity page: https://openrouter.ai/activity to review recent requests and charge details.
  2. Look for runaway loops or code that may have created many API calls (we cannot provide refund in this case).
  3. If an API key may have been exposed, immediately regenerate API keys from your account settings.
  4. Review team members and project access for any unauthorized usage.
  5. If you need to dispute a charge, open a support ticket.

4) Seeing charges for models labelled free

  1. Verify you used the free model variant, which typically includes a :free suffix in the model slug (e.g., deepseek/deepseek-chat:free).
  2. Free models have rate limits imposed by the provider. Current guidance: free models are limited to roughly 50 requests per day, or up to 1000 daily requests when you have $10 or more in credits. Also look into the BYOK (bring your own key) promotion which provides additional free request allowances for eligible customers.
  3. If you used any of our plugins - web search, pdf upload, which remains as a paid service on top of :free models.
  4. If you believe you were incorrectly billed while using a free model, provide generations from your activity page and open a support ticket.

5) Requesting a refund

  1. For eligible refunds (unused credits within 24 hours of purchase), use the refund button for purchases under $50. For purchases over $50, raise a support ticket at https://openrouter.ai/support.
  2. Refund processing times vary. If you have not received a refund within 10 business days, please raise a support ticket.

6) Invoice problems or VAT changes

When you make a credit purchase, please enable the "Send me Invoices" button if you require invoices.

To manage the name that appears on your invoice, use the "Manage Billing" button to update your billing information:

Once you click "Manage Billing," you can update your name and address there, which will appear on your future invoices.

Unfortunately, we're not able to update or reissue invoices after payment has been processed.

With our current Stripe setup, invoice details are locked at the time of purchase, and changing them retroactively isn't supported in our workflow.

To avoid issues in the future, always update your billing information from your Stripe customer dashboard before making a payment.

To download or view invoices directly from your Stripe billing portal:

  1. Sign in to OpenRouter → Credits.
  2. Click Payment History (this opens your Stripe dashboard).
  3. Navigate to Invoice History/Update Billing Information.

Downloaded PDFs remain accessible indefinitely. Remember that any billing-profile edits you make in Stripe will only apply to future invoices.

7) Unauthorized charges

  1. Change your OpenRouter password and any related account recovery settings.
  2. Regenerate any exposed API keys.

  3. Open a support ticket with details: dates, amounts, and any suspicious activity logs.

     

Best Practices to Prevent Payment Problems

  • Monitor usage regularly by checking https://openrouter.ai/activity.
  • Enable spending alerts and set reasonable request limits in your projects.
  • Keep API keys secure and rotate them periodically or immediately if you suspect exposure.
  • Use the exact free model identifiers when you intend to avoid charges. Example:
deepseek/deepseek-chat:free
  • Enable international transactions on cards you use for OpenRouter purchases.
  • Consider enabling auto top-up if available for uninterrupted service but review the threshold settings carefully.

 

Related Resources

 

If you follow the steps above and still cannot resolve the issue, please raise a support ticket at https://openrouter.ai/support with the requested details. The support team will guide you through the next steps and help resolve billing issues promptly.

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