LiteLLM vs Portkey

Pick two tools from the same category to compare side-by-side.

	LiteLLM Open-source LLM gateway exposing 100+ providers through a single OpenAI-compatible API, as a Python SDK or proxy server.	Portkey AI gateway: routing, caching, observability, guardrails across providers.
Category	routing	routing
Vendor type	hybrid	hybrid
Pricing	freemium	freemium
Strengths	+ Single OpenAI-compatible interface across 100+ LLM providers + Built-in retry and fallback logic across model deployments + Per-key, per-user, and per-project spend tracking and budgets + Usable as a lightweight Python SDK or a deployable proxy/gateway	+ Provider-agnostic gateway + Built-in fallbacks and caching + Open source with managed option
Tradeoffs	− Fast-moving release cadence; practitioners report regressions and breaking changes − Running the proxy adds an extra operational service in the request path − Some features (e.g. SSO) are gated behind the enterprise license	− One more hop in the request path
Used in stacks	0	2