Helicone
Pick it if you want request logs, metrics and alerts as the main product, with a gateway included.
OpenRouter alternatives
Seven gateways compared, A to Z, from each one's own site, read 2026-11-11. plaingateway publishes this page and is one of them.
Comparison
| Gateway | What it is | Token price | Platform fee | Subscription | Own keys | Source code |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Helicone | One API for many LLM providers in the OpenAI SDK format, with observability source | Credits with 0% markup source | not stated on the page we read source | Pro $79 a month, Team $799 a month, plus usage-based pricing source | Supported; the cost is not stated on the page we read source | Public, per their gateway overview; the licence is not stated there source |
| LiteLLM | Gateway you host yourself, with public source code; an Enterprise plan is sold source | not stated on the page we read source | No licence fee for the self-hosted version; Enterprise is priced by yearly request capacity, architecture and support, never per token source | not stated on the page we read source | Your provider keys go in your own configuration and stay on your infrastructure; no separate price is stated source | Public, per their pricing page; the licence is not stated there source |
| OpenRouter | Access to AI models through a single API endpoint source | not stated on the page we read source | 5.5% on Standard, 8% on Business; fee discounts on Enterprise source | None stated; Standard is pay-as-you-go source | Supported; their docs: “The cost of using custom provider keys on OpenRouter is 5% of what the same model/provider would cost normally on OpenRouter and will be deducted from your OpenRouter credits.” sourceFree allowance: pay-as-you-go includes $25,000 a month, measured by list-price inference cost; Enterprise allowances are custom source | not stated on the page we read source |
| plaingateway | Hosted gateway with an OpenAI-compatible and OpenRouter-compatible API source | The provider's official list price source | 0% source | None; prepaid credit from a $5 top-up source | Supported, with no fee from us at any volume source | Not public source |
| Portkey | AI gateway that can run locally or be self-hosted source | not stated on the page we read source | $9 per additional 100k requests on Production source | Production $49 a month; Enterprise custom pricing source | not stated on the page we read source | Public for the gateway; the licence is not stated on the page we read source |
| Requesty | AI gateway with one OpenAI-compatible endpoint, with routing, caching and governance source | Provider price plus 5%: $10 per 1M tokens from OpenAI costs $10.50 source | Billing docs: “A 5% service fee is added to every top-up, so a $100 top-up costs $105 and credits $100 to your balance.” sourcePricing page: “You pay for what your application spends, plus 5%.” The pages we read do not say whether this and the billing docs' 5% are one charge or two. source | None stated; no per-seat pricing and no minimum spend source | Supported; any separate fee for own keys is not stated on the page we read source | not stated on the page we read source |
| Vercel AI Gateway | not stated on the page we read source | Provider list price, no markup source | None on tokens sourcePayment processing fees may apply; the amount is not stated sourceOptional features, off by default, add charges beyond the per-token rates when turned on source | None; pay as you go with credits source | Supported on the paid tier, with no markup or fee from the gateway source | not stated on the page we read source |
The gateways
LiteLLM
Pick it if you want to host the gateway yourself and keep keys and traffic inside your own network.
OpenRouter
Pick it if you want one account and one API endpoint for many models, and accept the platform fees on its pricing page.
plaingateway
Pick it if you use the OpenRouter API, want list price with no fee on credit, and the OpenAI and DeepSeek models it serves today are the ones you need.
Portkey
Pick it if you want logs and metrics on a monthly plan, with the option to run the gateway yourself.
Requesty
Pick it if you want a gateway with routing, caching and governance, and the 5% charge works for you.
Vercel AI Gateway
Pick it if you already use Vercel and want list-price tokens with no markup.