Proton's AI assistant with zero-access encrypted chat history and guest access
Privacy 8.4
Safety 6.3
Private AI Reviewed 22 Oct 2026
Routstr review
Open protocol for pay-per-request AI inference paid with Cashu ecash and Lightning
- No account needed
- Open source
- Accepts Lightning
- No email needed
- No phone number
ID never required KYC 0 Documentation reviewed
Privacy
8.6/ 10
Excellent
Safety
6.1/ 10
Fair
Based on terms and documentation. No test transactions published yet. See the arithmetic
Routstr review in short
Routstr is an AI service. Its terms put it at KYC level 0 of 4: ID never required. NoKYC Score grades it 8.6/10 for privacy (excellent) and 6.1/10 for safety (fair). In its favour: no account needed, no email needed and no phone number. No incidents are on record.
- Category
- Private AI
- KYC level
- 0 of 4: ID never required
- Grades
- Privacy 8.6/10, Safety 6.1/10
- Sign-up
- No account needed
- Fees
- Per-request pricing set by each provider
- Jurisdiction
- Decentralised / none
- Incidents on record
- 0
- Last reviewed
- 22 Oct 2026
Cite this review
NoKYC Score, "Routstr review", reviewed 22 Oct 2026, https://nokycscore.com/service/routstr
Also available as plain text.
What Routstr is
Routstr is an open-source protocol and router for buying AI inference from independent providers. Its site describes pay-per-request, OpenAI-compatible APIs paid with Bitcoin micropayments and says no accounts, emails or sign-ups are required. Instead of an account, a client brings a Cashu ecash token and uses it as the API key; costs are deducted per request according to token usage, and the chat interface accepts Lightning payments. Providers announce their nodes over Nostr, and the documentation presents the project as a way to use AI models without accounts or KYC. Anyone can run a provider node. The site does not publish a logging policy covering individual providers.
What Routstr offers, and what to watch
6 of 13 privacy and safety features, 0 warnings in its terms.
"Not stated" means its own pages do not say.
Identity
- ID never required Yes The terms rule identity checks out, or the design makes them impossible.
- No account needed Yes Usable without creating an account, or the account is only a random number.
- No email needed Yes An email address is not required to sign up or use it.
- No phone number Yes A phone number is never required.
Payment
- Accepts Monero Not stated
- Accepts Lightning Yes Bitcoin Lightning payments: fast, cheap and more private than on-chain.
Access
- Tor onion address Not stated
- Works without JavaScript Not stated
Trust
- Open source Yes The code that matters is public and can be inspected.
- No-logs policy Not stated
- Independent audit Not stated
- Company named Not stated
- 5+ years operating Not stated
Warnings
- May ask for ID Not in terms
- Email required Not in terms
- Phone number required Not in terms
- Closed source Not in terms
- Nobody accountable Not in terms
Does Routstr require KYC?
- 0 Never
- 1 Not mentioned
- 2 Rare
- 3 On risk flag
- 4 Mandatory
KYC level 0: ID never required. The terms rule out identity checks, or the design makes them impossible.
Site states "No accounts, emails, or sign-ups required"; a Cashu ecash token serves as the API key.
How the grades add up
Both grades start at 50 points and move by fixed, published amounts. Nothing is adjusted by hand. The total is divided by ten.
Privacy
8.6- Starting points 50
- KYC level 0: ID never required +20
- No registration +6
- No email needed +3
- No phone needed +1
- Accepts Lightning +1
- Open source +2
- Self-hostable +3
- Total, clamped to 0–100 86
Safety
6.1- Starting points 50
- Open source +8
- Self-hostable +3
- Total, clamped to 0–100 61
Test ledger
Real transactions run by our editors. A badge without a ledger is an assertion; this is the proof.
No test transactions published yet
The grades above rest on Routstr’s terms and documentation. Tests will appear here with the date, route, amount band and result as they are run.
Incidents on record
No incidents are on record for Routstr. If you have a documented case, report it.
User reviews
Reviews never change a grade. Reviews with a transaction reference are marked.
No reviews yet.
Write a review
Create an account to write a review. It takes ten seconds and needs no email: you get a random key and a random name. Already have a key? Sign in.
Alternatives to Routstr
All alternatives → 
AI assistant running open models in encrypted enclaves, with open-source client
Privacy 6.4
Safety 6.3
AI assistant built into the Brave browser; no account or login for free use
Privacy 8.4
Safety 5.8
End-to-end encrypted AI assistant from the creator of Signal; account required
Privacy 6.0
Safety 5.8
Routstr vs LumoRoutstr vs Maple AIRoutstr vs Brave LeoRoutstr vs Confer
Routstr: common questions
Does Routstr require KYC?
Routstr is rated KYC level 0 of 4 on this site: ID never required. Site states "No accounts, emails, or sign-ups required"; a Cashu ecash token serves as the API key.
Is Routstr safe to use?
Routstr has a Safety grade of 6.1 out of 10 and a Privacy grade of 8.6 out of 10. No incidents are on record. Evidence level: documentation reviewed.
Is Routstr legit?
Routstr is a working AI service. Being real is not the same as being safe: its Safety grade here is 6.1 out of 10, built from custody, liquidity, track record and incidents.
Is Routstr a scam?
NoKYC Score does not label services as scams; it records documented incidents with their sources and outcomes. No incidents are on record for Routstr.
Do I need an account or email to use Routstr?
No account needed.
What fees does Routstr charge?
Per-request pricing set by each provider. Fees were recorded from Routstr's own pages and can change; check before you send.
Does Routstr have a Tor onion address?
No official onion address was found on Routstr's own pages.
Which cryptocurrencies does Routstr support?
Routstr supports BTC.
Can I use Routstr over Tor?
Routstr does not publish an official onion address.
Listing history
- Listing added. Facts and KYC level set from the service's own terms and documentation.