Which router do you want?
The AI Router reads. The normal Router compares. Reach for the AI Router the moment you catch yourself typing a fifthOR contains "…".
Use the normal Router for exact field values, numbers and dates, comparing two dynamic values
against each other ({{step.total}} > {{step.limit}}), “does this field exist”, anything inside a
big loop, and anything that has to be auditable or reproducible — compliance gates, billing tiers,
approval thresholds. It is free, instant and gives the same answer forever.
Use the AI Router for anything a human typed. Intent, topic, sentiment, urgency, “is this worth
a call”. It routes "i got billed 2x lol wtf" and "Mi tarjeta fue cobrada dos veces" to Billing
without you listing a single keyword in either language.
Most real flows use both. Let the AI Router take the judgement and put a normal Router inside
the branch for the facts:
Fields
One route, or every route that applies
Match decides how many routes run. The best route (the default) asks one question and exactly one route runs. Use it when the routes are alternatives — a ticket goes to one team. Every route that applies runs each route that fits, and the Otherwise route only when none did. Use it when the routes are independent — one message can be both a billing question and an angry customer."I want a refund and honestly I'm done with you" runs Refund and Escalate, and skips the
other two.
Two things to know before you switch:
- It asks the model once per route, so a 6-route step is 6 questions instead of 1. They go in one request. On the built-in Activepieces key you pay the real cost of those extra questions, still a fraction of a credit; on your own OpenRouter key it is one credit either way.
- It does not send Otherwise to the model. There is no forced choice to decline from — every route can simply answer no — so Otherwise is decided here rather than by the model, and its description is unused in this mode.
Write route descriptions, not prompts
The description is the whole instruction the model gets for that route. Short and concrete beats long and careful:Otherwise is a real route (best-route mode)
Give it a description. It is sent to the model as a genuine option, not used as a leftover bucket, and that is what lets the router decline rather than guess. The difference is large. WithBilling / Technical / Sales and no Otherwise description, the input
"hi" is routed to Sales — confidently, and past any threshold you would have set. Add
“Anything that fits none of the routes above” and "hi" goes to Otherwise instead, while a
clear billing message still goes to Billing.