I understand that the refund policy is documented. But “clearly documented” and “fair to the customer” are separate questions.
If a user cancels API access while still holding prepaid credits, that unused balance represents compute they never consumed. Unlike a shipped physical product or a fixed one-time service cost, unused API credit does not seem to impose much marginal cost on OpenRouter to reallocate or refund.
So the issue isn’t whether the policy is disclosed. It’s whether keeping unused prepaid credit after cancellation is the right default, especially when the user is no longer able or willing to use the service.
you are experiencing reverse Dunning–Kruger effect.
For someone that just dabbled in coding prior, it went from AI building 80%, and struggling through to finish the 20% when trying to build an app/website.
now it's like 97% and struggling with last 3%. Yes it'll look rough around the edges when evaulated by a senior dev, but being able to build MVP level things to completion with ease helps you stay engaged and motivated to continue and learn.
EMDR
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DALbwI7m1vM&
it's going to sound crazy but just give it a shot. Just focus on the moving dot when feeling extremely stressed. Check out the top comments for rough how to guide, but just focusing to follow the ball alone will being immediate relief.
Long term solutions:
Stoic philosophy... Imagining worst case scenarios playing out, and making peace with it. in your case, worst case is you fail and pick yourself back up working as software engineer with great salary. You'll manage ok.
Figuring out your stress-destress equation to figure out a sustainable balance of workload and sticking to it(I imagine very difficult to do in most startups).