The Verified Timeline
| Date | Event | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| 2026-08-20 | stealth/ox-alpha listed on OpenRouter at $0/$0, 1.05M context | OpenRouter catalog snapshot |
| 2026-08-23 | Still live; OpenCode alias x-preview-f-free; Command Code free preview | Live API + harness checks |
| 2026-08-26 | Z.ai confirms GLM-family iteration; no checkpoint named | Z.ai statement |
| 2026-08-28 | Removed from OpenRouter catalog; route no longer resolves | Live API check (this site) |
| 2026-08-28 | Dots3-Note free preview also gone (had been set to end Sept 30) | Live API check (this site) |
Note what is not in the timeline: a provider reveal, a benchmark release, or a deprecation notice. The removal was silent — consistent with a preview whose evaluation period simply ended. The historical record stays live with banners; see the original explainer and the benchmark analysis.
What This Signals About Stealth Routes
Free stealth previews are evaluation periods, not products
The economics only work while the provider is gathering traffic data. Plan every stealth-model integration with a fallback from day one.
Identity was never confirmed — and now may never be
Without released weights or an official naming, the 'which lab made Ox Alpha' question stays open. The honest answer remains: unconfirmed.
Free routes are shrinking market-wide
Ox Alpha and Dots3-Note both vanished within a week. The remaining free routes (embeddings, developer tiers) are the stable ones; model previews are not.
The full economics of that trade — rate limits, queueing, previews ending — is the subject of why free AI tiers aren't free.
The Fallback Stack
If you were running agentic or coding workloads on the free route, here's the verified replacement matrix (2026-08-28 rates):
| Use case | Fallback | Rate ($/1M in, out) | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agentic coding (Ox Alpha's profile) | GLM 5.3 | $1.40 / $4.40 | Agentic 59.1 — matches the preview's positioning |
| Budget long-context reasoning | DeepSeek V4 Pro (off-peak) | $0.66 / $1.98 | 1M context, ~97% cache discount |
| Fast coding at scale | Gemini 3.7 Flash | $1.50 / $6 | Coding 76.1, instant latency tier |
| High-volume simple loops | DeepSeek V4 Flash (off-peak) | $0.22 / $0.66 | The budget workhorse |
Frequently Asked Questions
When was Ox Alpha removed from OpenRouter?
The model id stealth/ox-alpha stopped being listed in OpenRouter's live catalog on 2026-08-28. As of that date, requests to the route no longer resolve; OpenRouter's own description previously flagged it as a stealth preview operated by an anonymous third-party provider.
Why was Ox Alpha removed?
OpenRouter did not publish a removal reason. Free stealth previews exist for evaluation and traffic testing — they end when the provider's evaluation period ends. The Dots3-Note free preview was removed from the same catalog within the same week, suggesting a broader cleanup of free preview routes.
Was Ox Alpha ever identified as a specific model?
No. Z.ai confirmed Ox Alpha is a new GLM-family iteration, and the catalog carried it under the Z.ai provider, but no exact checkpoint name or official benchmark was ever published. Any claim that Ox Alpha 'was' GLM-5.3 or GLM-5.3-Flash remains unverified.
What should I use instead of Ox Alpha?
The closest verified alternatives: GLM 5.3 ($1.40/$4.40, agentic 59.1) for the agentic profile, DeepSeek V4 Pro ($1.32/$3.96 peak, $0.66/$1.98 off-peak) for budget reasoning, and Gemini 3.7 Flash ($1.50/$6) for fast coding at scale. None are free — the free-preview era for this route is over.
Does the removal change my historical Ox Alpha usage?
Historical articles, benchmark comparisons and the model record stay live with a deprecation banner. Anything built on the free route needs a fallback now; the routing playbook covers the swap.