# Claude Code Router

11 Hacker News commenters recommended Claude Code Router and 3 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 5 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Lets Claude Code send requests to other models, including local ones, and shows what they do. Critics find it bloated and flaky, with tool names sometimes double-translated.

## Why people recommend it

- Routes Claude Code to other models (5 comments): "anything with an open ai compatible endpoint can have claude code router put in front of it afaik" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46992227)) "To fix that I use Claude Code Router and hooked up those two features to Gemini (free) instead." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45856628)) "because it allows you to intercept the requests and forward them to other models" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45857089))
- Works with local open-source models (3 comments): "it's a much better speed vs quality vs cost tradeoff compared to running Qwen3 locally" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46894094)) "I do love having insight when I run qwen locally through Claude Code Router" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50151581)) "I use it since some weeks with opensource models and it works pretty well" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46015500))
- Shows what intercepted requests do (3 comments): "because it allows you to intercept the requests and forward them to other models" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45857089)) "I do love having insight when I run qwen locally through Claude Code Router" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50151581)) "it allows you to intercept the requests and forward them to other models" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45856995))
- Cheaper models for Claude Code (2 comments): "To fix that I use Claude Code Router and hooked up those two features to Gemini (free) instead." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45856628)) "it's a much better speed vs quality vs cost tradeoff compared to running Qwen3 locally" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46894094))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [LiteLLM](https://hackerapproved.com/p/litellm.md): 72 recommend
- [Bifrost by Maxim](https://hackerapproved.com/p/bifrost.md): 17 recommend
- [GoModel](https://hackerapproved.com/p/gomodel.md): 13 recommend
- [CLIProxyAPI](https://hackerapproved.com/p/cliproxyapi.md): 7 recommend
- [Tailscale Aperture](https://hackerapproved.com/p/tailscale-aperture.md): 6 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Claude Code Router", https://hackerapproved.com/p/claude-code-router/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).