What smart routing actually saves you
Routing is not about the best model. It is about not paying for the frontier model on a triage call.
The cheapest model that does the job well enough is the right model. Routing exists because humans are bad at picking that model task-by-task, and because the answer changes as models are released.
The savings are real and measurable
Every sandbox run computes a savings estimate against a frontier-class baseline. Across thousands of runs we see the same pattern: triage and summarization routed to a fast or cheap model cost a fraction of the frontier call, with no user-visible quality loss. Routing saves money on exactly the calls that make up the bulk of your volume.
Switch in one place
When a new model drops, the temptation is to rewrite every integration. With a router, you change the route — once — and every agent that uses that task type picks up the new model. Spend caps already protect you from a regression; the audit stream shows you whether the new choice pays off.
Routing is not a model picker. It is a budget you control.