AI Gateway HQ vs. LiteLLM
Use a managed service instead of running a proxy, database, master key, and upgrade program.
- Pre-dispatch control
- Operator-ready evidence
- Prompt storage off by default
Choose AI Gateway HQ when the organization wants an accountable, managed AI service instead of a proxy project to assemble and maintain. LiteLLM is compelling when engineering wants source access and accepts responsibility for the database, master key, upgrades, and enterprise controls.
AI Gateway HQ ships tenant-bound credential encryption, workload keys, guided routing and policy setup, prepaid accounting, support authorization, and a managed AWS deployment as one service boundary.
Compare what each gateway does.
Our column describes the working product. The LiteLLM column summarizes its linked documentation and pricing; it does not rely on anonymous review scores.
A compatible endpoint, encrypted BYOK pools, health-aware routing, shared cooldowns, and reason-coded fallback.
Open-source OpenAI-format proxy across 100+ providers with routing, fallback, load balancing, logging, and Prometheus integration.
Budget and capacity are reserved before forwarding. Settlement uses supported provider-reported usage, and promotional credit cannot fund server-paid models.
Virtual keys, user/team budgets, rate limits, and spend tracking. Its official virtual-key setup requires a PostgreSQL database and a proxy master key, so self-hosters own that security and availability boundary.
OIDC, required MFA, least-privilege roles, workload keys, signed context, staged enforcement, and local attack screening.
Enterprise advertises SSO, SCIM, OIDC/JWT, audit logs, secret managers, and key rotation. That is a broader identity surface.
AWS serverless deployment behind WAF, tenant-bound encryption, signed releases, metadata-only request records by default, tamper-evident exports, and approved support access.
Free self-hosted proxy plus Enterprise multi-region, air-gapped, and managed support options.
A free BYOK proving tier, then $0.10 per 1,000 successful Flex requests. Inference bought through customer-owned accounts has no percentage markup.
Open-source self-hosting is $0 software cost; Enterprise uses custom annual request-capacity and support pricing.
Consider LiteLLM when source customization, self-hosting, or its very broad provider adapter catalog is the primary requirement.
We reviewed LiteLLM's linked documentation and pricing on August 7, 2026. Vendors measure requests, logs, credits, infrastructure, and capacity differently, so compare the underlying units and recheck current terms before purchasing.