Manifest is aimed at AI builders, teams and startups, as well as platforms or providers managing inference consumption.
Free plan Open source From $19 a month WebLinuxAPISelf-hosted
Best LLM Gateways 2026
Facts read 29 Sep 2026 – 21 Oct 2026
This list covers LLM gateway tools and the plans, trials and deployment options their makers publish. It helps buyers compare free access, source availability and supported platforms.
The standings: top 10
| Name | In a line | Record score | Price from | Try it free | Runs on | Facts read |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 Manifest | Manifest is aimed at AI builders, teams and startups, as well as platforms or providers managing inference consumption. | 8.0 | $19 a month | Free plan | Web, Linux, API, Self-hosted | 15 Oct 2026 |
| 02 LLM Gateway | LLM Gateway suits product and platform teams routing model requests across providers. | 7.9 | Free plan | Free plan | Web, Linux, Browser extension, API | 15 Oct 2026 |
| 03 Bifrost | The OSS edition suits developers and small teams seeking a self-managed gateway. | 7.8 | Free plan | Free plan | Web, Windows, Mac, Linux | 21 Oct 2026 |
| 04 Kong Gateway | 7.7 | Free plan | Free plan | Web, Linux, API, Self-hosted | 29 Sep 2026 | |
| 05 LangSmith | LangSmith suits teams developing AI agents that need evaluation, prompt tools, tracing, and production monitoring. | 7.0 | $39 usage-based | Free plan | Web, Windows, Mac, Linux | 15 Oct 2026 |
| 06 TensorZero | TensorZero may suit developers who want a self-hosted LLM gateway and can manage its deployment and data storage. | 6.9 | Free plan | Free plan | Web, Linux, API, Self-hosted | 7 Oct 2026 |
| 07 Helicone | It suits teams building or operating AI applications that need provider routing, request tracing, or cost visibility. | 6.8 | $79 usage-based | Free plan | Web, API, Self-hosted | 1 Oct 2026 |
| 08 Envoy AI Gateway | It suits teams that share models or tools and want central credentials, quotas, usage attribution or provider failover. | 6.6 | Free plan | Free plan | Mac, Linux, API, Self-hosted | 9 Oct 2026 |
| 09 TrueFoundry AI Gateway | This gateway suits teams managing access to multiple AI models and providers. | 6.4 | $499 a month | Free plan | Web, Linux, API, Self-hosted | 15 Oct 2026 |
| 10 OpenRouter | OpenRouter suits developers and teams that want one API endpoint for access to multiple AI models and providers. | 6.3 | Free plan | Free plan | Web, API | 29 Sep 2026 |
The list is ordered by newest releases first and uses maker-published figures without a score.
02
LLM Gateway
LLM Gateway suits product and platform teams routing model requests across providers.
WebLinuxBrowser extension+2 Record7.9 Visit
03
Bifrost
The OSS edition suits developers and small teams seeking a self-managed gateway.
WebWindowsMac+3 Record7.8 Visit
04
Kong Gateway
WebLinuxAPI+1 Record7.7 Visit
05
LangSmith
LangSmith suits teams developing AI agents that need evaluation, prompt tools, tracing, and production monitoring.
WebWindowsMac+3 Record7.0 Visit
6
TensorZero
WebLinuxAPI+1 Free plan Record6.9 Visit TensorZero may suit developers who want a self-hosted LLM gateway and can manage its deployment and data storage.
7
Helicone
WebAPISelf-hosted $79 usage-based Record6.8 Visit It suits teams building or operating AI applications that need provider routing, request tracing, or cost visibility.
8
Envoy AI Gateway
MacLinuxAPI+1 Free plan Record6.6 Visit It suits teams that share models or tools and want central credentials, quotas, usage attribution or provider failover.
9
TrueFoundry AI Gateway
WebLinuxAPI+1 $499 a month Record6.4 Visit This gateway suits teams managing access to multiple AI models and providers.
10
OpenRouter
WebAPI Free plan Record6.3 Visit OpenRouter suits developers and teams that want one API endpoint for access to multiple AI models and providers.
11
Eden AI
WebAPI $5.50 one-time Record6.2 Visit Eden AI suits companies that want to test, compare or switch among AI model providers through one API.
12
LiteLLM
WebAPISelf-hosted Free plan Record6.1 Visit LiteLLM suits platform teams that need a shared API for multiple model providers and controls for usage, routing, and spend.
13
Requesty
WebBrowser extensionAPI Free plan Record5.9 Visit Requesty suits developers and teams that want to connect applications to multiple models through one API and manage routing, usage and governance centrally.
14
Orq.ai
WebAPISelf-hosted Free plan Record5.8 Visit Orq.ai is suited to engineering and product teams building LLM applications that need model routing, governance, and usage visibility.
15
Routerly
WebWindowsMac+3 Free plan Record5.8 Visit Routerly is aimed at developers, including SaaS teams and local-first development use cases.
18
SGLang
MacLinuxAPI+1 Free plan Record5.5 Visit SGLang suits technical teams serving language, vision-language, or diffusion models, including teams working on agentic workloads or reinforcement-learning rollouts.
Before you choose
Compare plan terms
Look for a free plan or a free pricing model if you want to start without a paid commitment. Freemium tools may add paid tiers.
Published paid terms vary. Manifest lists paid plans from $19 per month, Helicone from $79 per month and LangSmith from $39 per user per month. Kong Gateway lists pricing on request.
Check trial access
A free trial can give you time to assess a gateway before paying. Listed trial periods include 7, 14 and 30 days.
Check whether the trial is separate from the free plan and note when paid access begins.
Match your platform
Choose a gateway that fits your setup. Listed platform options include API, web, self-hosted, Linux, macOS and Windows.
Confirm the platform listing before you plan a deployment, especially when you need a self-hosted or desktop environment.
Review source access
Open-source code is available from offerings on this list. If you need to read or change the code, check the tool's licence and deployment instructions.
Source availability can matter when you need control over where the gateway runs.
Questions
Do LLM gateways offer free plans?
Yes. Listed offerings include free plans and free pricing models, alongside freemium and paid options.
Which LLM gateways have free trials?
Free trials listed include 7-day, 14-day and 30-day periods. Trial terms differ from free-plan terms.
Can I run an LLM gateway myself?
Self-hosted deployment is a listed platform option. Check the platform details for the tool you are considering.
Are LLM gateway tools open source?
Open-source code is available from offerings on the list. Review the licence before modifying or redistributing code.
Which platforms are supported?
Listed platform options are API, web, self-hosted, Linux, macOS and Windows.
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