Best LLM Gateway: 7 AI Gateways Compared

An LLM gateway sits between your application and model providers. It handles routing, caching, logging, and access control so your application does not need to manage each provider integration separately.

The market has split into three categories: infrastructure gateways, open-source proxies, and hosted marketplaces. Each handles data residency and compliance differently. Some include Chinese-hosted models by default. Others lock data to approved regions.

This guide compares seven major LLM gateways on the features that matter for enterprise adoption: data residency controls, compliance certifications, model catalog, cost model, open-source status, and whether they route to Chinese-hosted models by default.

What Is an LLM Gateway?

An LLM gateway is a layer between your application and AI model providers. It intercepts API calls, adds features like caching and logging, and forwards requests to the model. Responses flow back through the same path.

The term "gateway" overlaps with "router" and "proxy," all of which fall under the broader concept of LLM orchestration. In practice, gateways tend to emphasize infrastructure features like caching and rate limiting. Routers emphasize model selection and cost optimization. Proxies emphasize API format translation.

For enterprise teams, the gateway is where you enforce policies about which models are used, where data goes, and how much each team spends. It is the control plane for your AI model usage.

For a deeper explanation of routing concepts, see our AI model routing explained pillar guide.

• Sits between your app and model providers
• Adds caching, logging, rate limiting, and access control
• The control plane for model selection and data flow policies
• Overlaps with terms like "router" and "proxy"
• Enterprise teams use it to enforce compliance and cost rules

LLM Gateway Feature Comparison

The table below compares seven LLM gateways across the features that matter most for enterprise adoption. Data residency controls and Chinese-model defaults are the two columns most teams overlook. To weigh the cost side of the decision, run your volume through our LLM Routing Cost Calculator.

Verify all details on each vendor's current documentation. Features and certifications change. This table reflects published information as of mid-2026.

Cloudflare AI Gateway

Cloudflare AI Gateway is an infrastructure-layer gateway that sits in front of your model provider connections. It adds caching, rate limiting, logging, and analytics without changing how you call the provider.

Cloudflare does not host models itself. It proxies your requests to the provider you specify. The gateway adds a caching layer that can reduce repeat calls and cost. It also logs requests for monitoring and debugging.

Data residency works at the gateway level. Cloudflare processes requests through its global network, and you can configure which Cloudflare regions handle your traffic. The final model provider determines where inference happens.

Cloudflare AI Gateway does not include Chinese-hosted models by default because it does not maintain a model catalog. You bring your own provider endpoints. This makes it safer from a compliance standpoint but requires you to manage provider relationships directly.

• Infrastructure proxy: caching, rate limiting, logging, analytics
• Does not host models or maintain a model catalog
• You bring your own provider endpoints
• SOC 2 and ISO 27001 certified
• Free tier available with usage-based pricing for higher volumes

LiteLLM

LiteLLM is an open-source proxy you self-host. It translates API calls across 100+ providers and adds key management, load balancing, and spend tracking.

Because it is self-hosted, you have full control over which model endpoints are configured. If you do not add Chinese-hosted models to your config, data does not go there. This is the strongest data residency control of any tool on this list.

The trade-off is operational cost. You run the infrastructure, maintain the config, and handle security. LiteLLM also experienced a supply chain compromise in late 2024 where a malicious PyPI package exfiltrated API keys. The issue was resolved, but it affects trust decisions.

For the full story on the security incident and current status, see our LiteLLM explained guide.

• Open-source, self-hosted proxy
• Full control over model endpoints and data flow
• Supports 100+ providers with API format translation
• Supply chain compromise in late 2024 (resolved)
• No compliance certifications (you provide your own infrastructure security)

OpenRouter

OpenRouter is a hosted marketplace that aggregates 200+ models from 30+ providers into one API. It is the largest model aggregator and the most convenient option for accessing many models quickly, with a markup pricing model on top of each provider's rates.

OpenRouter is also the highest-risk option for data residency. Its default catalog includes Chinese-hosted models from DeepSeek, Alibaba (Qwen), 01.AI (Yi), and Moonshot AI. Auto-routing and cost-based routing can select these models without explicit user choice.

OpenRouter does not publish compliance certifications. It is a hosted commercial service, not an enterprise-grade gateway. Requests pass through OpenRouter's infrastructure before reaching the model provider, adding a second data handler.

For teams that need maximum model variety and are not subject to data residency rules, OpenRouter works well. For regulated workloads, it requires significant configuration work to lock down. See our OpenRouter explained guide.

• Hosted marketplace with 200+ models from 30+ providers
• Chinese-hosted models included by default (DeepSeek, Qwen, Yi, Moonshot)
• Auto-routing can select Chinese models without user choice
• No published compliance certifications
• Marketplace markup on top of provider pricing

Portkey

Portkey is a hosted enterprise gateway with features designed for production AI deployments. It offers audit logging, guardrails, virtual keys, and role-based access controls on top of multi-model routing.

Portkey sits between OpenRouter's breadth and AWS Bedrock's compliance rigor. It provides more enterprise features than OpenRouter, including SOC 2 certification, but does not offer the built-in data residency controls of a cloud provider gateway.

Model access in Portkey is configurable. You can restrict which models each virtual key can reach, which helps enforce data residency policies. But the restrictions are configuration-dependent, meaning you need to set them up correctly.

Portkey is a good middle ground for teams that want enterprise features without committing to a cloud provider's ecosystem.

• Hosted enterprise gateway with audit logging and guardrails
• SOC 2 certified
• Virtual keys with per-team model access restrictions
• Configurable model access (not restricted by default)
• Usage-based pricing

AWS Bedrock

AWS Bedrock is Amazon's managed AI gateway. It provides access to models from Anthropic, Meta, Mistral, Cohere, Stability AI, and Amazon's own Titan models through the AWS infrastructure.

Bedrock's key advantage is data residency. Models run on AWS infrastructure in the region you select. You choose US, EU, or Asia-Pacific regions, and your data stays in that region. This is the strongest built-in data residency control of any tool on this list.

Bedrock does not include Chinese-hosted models. Its model catalog is curated, and all models run on AWS-managed infrastructure. This eliminates the risk of data being routed to Chinese servers.

Bedrock is SOC 2 certified, HIPAA-eligible (with a BAA), and FedRAMP authorized. For regulated industries, it is the most compliance-ready gateway available. The trade-off is vendor lock-in to AWS.

• Managed gateway on AWS infrastructure
• Region-level data residency controls
• No Chinese-hosted models in the catalog
• SOC 2, HIPAA-eligible (with BAA), FedRAMP authorized
• Pay-per-token pricing through AWS billing
• Curated model catalog: Anthropic, Meta, Mistral, Cohere, Stability, Titan

How to Choose the Right LLM Gateway

The right gateway depends on three factors: your compliance requirements, your engineering capacity, and how many model providers you need access to.

If you are in a regulated industry and need data residency guarantees, start with AWS Bedrock or Databricks AI Gateway. Both offer region-level controls and compliance certifications out of the box, though a routing vendor audit is still recommended to map exposure across all model endpoints.

If you have a strong DevOps team and want maximum control, self-host LiteLLM and configure only approved endpoints. You get full control but own the operational burden.

If you want enterprise features without cloud provider lock-in, Portkey offers audit logging and guardrails as a hosted service. If you just need caching and logging in front of existing provider connections, Cloudflare AI Gateway is the lightest-weight option. If your choice comes down to OpenRouter versus LiteLLM, see our head-to-head comparison.

• Regulated industry: AWS Bedrock or Databricks AI Gateway
• Maximum control: self-hosted LiteLLM with approved endpoints only
• Enterprise features without lock-in: Portkey
• Infrastructure caching and logging: Cloudflare AI Gateway
• Maximum model variety (non-regulated): OpenRouter with model restrictions
• SDK-level integration: Vercel AI for Next.js and Vercel-hosted apps