diff --git a/litellm/litellm_core_utils/get_llm_provider_logic.py b/litellm/litellm_core_utils/get_llm_provider_logic.py
index 718773a1b16..dd2d733170b 100644
--- a/litellm/litellm_core_utils/get_llm_provider_logic.py
+++ b/litellm/litellm_core_utils/get_llm_provider_logic.py
@@ -439,6 +439,8 @@ def get_llm_provider(  # noqa: PLR0915
             custom_llm_provider = "amazon_nova"
         elif model.startswith("sap/"):
             custom_llm_provider = "sap"
+        elif model.endswith(":free"):
+            custom_llm_provider = "openrouter"
         if not custom_llm_provider:
             if litellm.suppress_debug_info is False:
                 print()  # noqa
diff --git a/tests/local_testing/test_get_llm_provider.py b/tests/local_testing/test_get_llm_provider.py
index 9b07111ea54..c8922446b4a 100644
--- a/tests/local_testing/test_get_llm_provider.py
+++ b/tests/local_testing/test_get_llm_provider.py
@@ -420,3 +420,14 @@ def test_get_llm_provider_use_proxy_arg_true_with_direct_args():
     assert provider == "litellm_proxy"
     assert key == arg_api_key  # Should use the argument key
     assert base == arg_api_base # Should use the argument base
+
+
+def test_openrouter_free_model():
+    """
+    Test that models ending in :free are routed to openrouter
+    """
+    model, custom_llm_provider, _, _ = litellm.get_llm_provider(
+        model="google/gemma-3-27b-it:free",
+    )
+    assert custom_llm_provider == "openrouter"
+    assert model == "google/gemma-3-27b-it:free"