Best Portkey Alternatives in 2026: 7 AI Gateways Compared

In light of Palo Alto Networks' acquisition of Portkey, teams are exploring alternative AI gateway options due to concerns over roadmap independence, pricing risks, and data handling practices. Popular alternatives include Eden AI, which offers extensive multi-modal AI access with 500+ models and pay-per-use pricing, and OpenRouter, known for its LLM-only routing capabilities with over 300 models and per-token pricing. LiteLLM stands out as a self-hosted, open-source proxy option, offering cost-free deployment under the MIT license. For enterprises requiring governance, Bifrost provides policy-based routing and RBAC, while Helicone focuses on observability with detailed logging and analytics. Cloudflare AI Gateway is praised for its low-latency edge caching, suitable for those already utilizing Cloudflare services, while Kong AI Gateway extends existing API management capabilities with AI-specific features. Users can often migrate from Portkey with minimal code changes, ensuring a smooth transition to these alternatives.

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