How Phantom compares. Measured on every turn.
See how phantom-1's real-time ML steering, zero prompt logging, and micro-USD accounting compare against traditional gateways, direct provider accounts, and running unrouted frontier models alone.
- Live catalog pricing
- Zero prompt storage
- Signed receipts on every request
From the benchmark run of October 25, 2026
- Nemotron 3.5 Lightning Free · Lowest price14%
- DeepSeek V4.1 Flash · Most coding steps65%
- Claude Sonnet 5.5 · The strongest models21%
How Phantom's real-time ML steering and zero-log architecture compares with traditional gateways and proxy networks.
Phantom vs Other Routers
| Evaluation Dimension | Phantom AI (phantom-1)Ours | OpenRouter | Cloudflare AI Gateway | Martian / Unify |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Steering intelligence How incoming requests get routed to the optimal model | ML complexity classification phantom-1 classifies prompt intent into calibrated tiers (Economy, Standard, Frontier) on every turn | Manual model picking Static model IDs with basic fallback cascades. No automated prompt complexity analysis. | Rule-based fallback Round-robin load balancing and simple regex fallbacks without semantic reasoning. | External model steering Router model selection, but lacks local coding agent CLI hooks and prompt verification. |
Coding agent integration Setup experience for developer workflows and autonomous agents | One-command local proxy phantom setup automatically detects Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, and more; no manual JSON edits | Manual env configuration Requires copying base URLs and API secrets into each tool's local configuration file. | Worker proxy setup Requires writing and maintaining custom Cloudflare Workers to intercept coding agent traffic. | SDK / manual endpoint Targeted at enterprise backends, no dedicated terminal coding agent setup tool. |
Privacy & prompt storage Whether your code and conversation history touch disk or storage | Zero prompt logging Guaranteed zero prompt or completion storage to disk. Only key hash, token counts, and price recorded. | Optional log opt-out Prompts stored by default for activity feeds and analytics unless explicitly disabled. | Cloud logs by default Captures full request and response payloads in Cloudflare storage for dashboard inspection. | Proprietary logs Prompt routing data processed on proprietary infrastructure without cryptographic attestation. |
Cryptographic proof Independent audit trail verifying what model served each request | Signed receipts on every call Cryptographically signed header (x-phantom-receipt) returned per socket; optional Solana blockchain anchor | None No cryptographic proof of upstream model identity or token count. | Dashboard audit logs Standard HTTP logs visible only inside Cloudflare web portal; no portable signature. | None No verifiable receipt returned in response headers. |
Accounting precision How granularly usage is measured and billed | Micro-USD per token Integer micro-USD accounting down to $0.000001 with spend-rate caps stopping runaway loops | Float credit balances Standard cent balances with coarse debit increments and no runaway loop spend-rate breaker. | Per-seat / usage tiers Separate billing accounts per upstream provider with platform tier limits. | Aggregated ledger Pre-funded balances debited per request without sub-cent micro-USD guarantees. |
Payment rails How workspaces fund their credit balances | Card, Solana, and HTTP 402 Stripe card checkout, native Solana USDC/USDT/SOL, and instant machine micropayments via 402 | Card & crypto deposit Stripe payments and manual crypto deposits through third-party processors. | Credit card / enterprise invoice Monthly credit card billing or enterprise contracts only; no autonomous agent rails. | Card billing Traditional credit card subscriptions or manual sales invoices. |
Steering intelligence
How incoming requests get routed to the optimal model
ML complexity classification
phantom-1 classifies prompt intent into calibrated tiers (Economy, Standard, Frontier) on every turn
OpenRouter
Manual model picking
Static model IDs with basic fallback cascades. No automated prompt complexity analysis.
Cloudflare AI Gateway
Rule-based fallback
Round-robin load balancing and simple regex fallbacks without semantic reasoning.
Martian / Unify
External model steering
Router model selection, but lacks local coding agent CLI hooks and prompt verification.
Coding agent integration
Setup experience for developer workflows and autonomous agents
One-command local proxy
phantom setup automatically detects Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, and more; no manual JSON edits
OpenRouter
Manual env configuration
Requires copying base URLs and API secrets into each tool's local configuration file.
Cloudflare AI Gateway
Worker proxy setup
Requires writing and maintaining custom Cloudflare Workers to intercept coding agent traffic.
Martian / Unify
SDK / manual endpoint
Targeted at enterprise backends, no dedicated terminal coding agent setup tool.
Privacy & prompt storage
Whether your code and conversation history touch disk or storage
Zero prompt logging
Guaranteed zero prompt or completion storage to disk. Only key hash, token counts, and price recorded.
OpenRouter
Optional log opt-out
Prompts stored by default for activity feeds and analytics unless explicitly disabled.
Cloudflare AI Gateway
Cloud logs by default
Captures full request and response payloads in Cloudflare storage for dashboard inspection.
Martian / Unify
Proprietary logs
Prompt routing data processed on proprietary infrastructure without cryptographic attestation.
Cryptographic proof
Independent audit trail verifying what model served each request
Signed receipts on every call
Cryptographically signed header (x-phantom-receipt) returned per socket; optional Solana blockchain anchor
OpenRouter
None
No cryptographic proof of upstream model identity or token count.
Cloudflare AI Gateway
Dashboard audit logs
Standard HTTP logs visible only inside Cloudflare web portal; no portable signature.
Martian / Unify
None
No verifiable receipt returned in response headers.
Accounting precision
How granularly usage is measured and billed
Micro-USD per token
Integer micro-USD accounting down to $0.000001 with spend-rate caps stopping runaway loops
OpenRouter
Float credit balances
Standard cent balances with coarse debit increments and no runaway loop spend-rate breaker.
Cloudflare AI Gateway
Per-seat / usage tiers
Separate billing accounts per upstream provider with platform tier limits.
Martian / Unify
Aggregated ledger
Pre-funded balances debited per request without sub-cent micro-USD guarantees.
Payment rails
How workspaces fund their credit balances
Card, Solana, and HTTP 402
Stripe card checkout, native Solana USDC/USDT/SOL, and instant machine micropayments via 402
OpenRouter
Card & crypto deposit
Stripe payments and manual crypto deposits through third-party processors.
Cloudflare AI Gateway
Credit card / enterprise invoice
Monthly credit card billing or enterprise contracts only; no autonomous agent rails.
Martian / Unify
Card billing
Traditional credit card subscriptions or manual sales invoices.
Calculate your agent's monthly savings.
See how much you save when phantom-1 routes everyday syntax and tool calls to calibrated Standard and Economy models instead of paying frontier prices on every token.
$2817
Save $234.75 every month compared to unrouted frontier calls.
No subscription required. Pay per token with card or crypto down to $0.000001.
Intelligent Tiers vs Brute Force
Coding agents spend 65%+ of their calls executing routine file checks, linter runs, and git commits. Routing those to calibrated Standard models saves money on every turn while preserving 100% of Frontier reasoning for hard problems.
Zero-Log Guarantee vs Cloud Databases
Other gateways retain your prompts on cloud servers for activity dashboards or training pipelines. Phantom stores zero prompt text on disk. Every response returns a cryptographically signed receipt verifying tokens and price.
One-Command Setup vs Manual Proxies
Run phantom setup once. It detects Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, and more in your local filesystem and configures their environments to point to Phantom. No manual editing.
Ready to stop overpaying? Set up in 10 seconds.
One command configures Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, and more with your Phantom key. Start with credit, fund with card or crypto.