OpenRouter opens Claude Code to free models

This is a clever hack, not a loophole: OpenRouter turns Claude Code into a portable client, but the zero-cost story is only as durable as the current free-model pool.

• –`openrouter/free` is genuinely free, yet availability and rate limits change, so it is best for demos, prototyping, and low-volume coding.
• –The integration is just env vars and an Anthropic-compatible base URL, so there is no local proxy or daemon to maintain.
• –OpenRouter's bigger value is routing, failover, usage tracking, and budget controls for teams.
• –OpenRouter's docs still recommend Anthropic's first-party provider for maximum Claude Code compatibility, so the free path is about convenience, not perfect parity.