LiteLLM and Kong AI Gateway side by side
| LiteLLM | Kong AI Gateway | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Open-source proxy (MIT outside its enterprise directory) you host, with an Enterprise license | AI plugins for Kong Gateway, managed through Kong Konnect |
| Price | Open source free; Enterprise priced by deployment size, no published price | Konnect Plus from $25 a month plus usage; $100 a month per model proxied by AI plugins; $200 per additional million requests; Enterprise custom, billed annually |
| Model contracts | Any provider you hold a key for | The providers you configure with your own keys |
| Routing | Routing, retries and fallbacks you configure | Load balancing in AI Proxy Advanced, an Enterprise plugin; models defined as AI Model entities in AI Gateway 2.x |
| What you operate | Docker or Kubernetes, Postgres, and Redis once you run more than one instance | Your data plane in hybrid mode, or Kong-managed Dedicated Cloud Gateways |
| Processing in Europe | Wherever you host the proxy; model processing depends on each provider | EU Konnect region; model processing depends on each provider |
| Single sign-on | Free for up to 5 users; Enterprise license beyond that | SSO on Enterprise |
| Budgets | Budgets per key, user, team and customer in open source; per-model budgets on Enterprise | Token and cost limits with AI Rate Limiting Advanced, an Enterprise plugin |
| Audit log | Audit logs on Enterprise | Audit logging on Enterprise; Konnect keeps audit logs 7 days |
Where they differ most
Where cost controls sit
LiteLLM ships budgets per key, user and team in the open-source proxy. Kong's AI Rate Limiting Advanced, AI Proxy Advanced and AI Semantic Cache are only available as part of the AI Gateway Enterprise offering.
How you pay
LiteLLM's Enterprise price depends on your deployment size. Kong Konnect Plus charges $100 a month per model proxied by AI plugins, up to 5 models.
What you run
LiteLLM needs Postgres for its auth and tracking features and Redis once you run more than one instance. Kong runs as a data plane you operate or as Kong-managed Dedicated Cloud Gateways, controlled from Konnect.
Choose LiteLLM or Kong AI Gateway
Choose LiteLLM if
- You want an open-source gateway your platform team can run inside your own network.
- Keys, teams and budgets in the free version cover your needs.
- Your team is comfortable operating Postgres and Redis next to it.
Choose Kong AI Gateway if
- Kong already fronts your APIs, and you want AI traffic under the same gateway and team.
- You are buying Kong Enterprise, which includes the advanced AI plugins.
- You prefer a managed control plane in Konnect, with an EU region.
A third option for companies
Both options leave you running gateway infrastructure and holding a contract with every model provider. Standard Compute is a managed gateway with the models included, so there is nothing to host and one contract to sign.
Cost per step
Each step goes to the cheapest model that can do it and the cheapest provider fast enough to serve it.
Models
Claude, GPT and Gemini alongside open models such as GLM, DeepSeek, MiniMax and Kimi, through one API.
Processing in Europe
A Europe rule per company, team or key: every request, including retries and fallbacks, is served only by approved European inference endpoints, or refused before your prompt is sent.
Zero data retention
Required per company, team or key, and Standard Compute never trains on your prompts or outputs.
Single sign-on
Microsoft Entra ID or any SAML provider, and Claude Desktop and Claude Code sign-in with a Microsoft work account.
Budgets
A fixed monthly budget per person and app that never overruns, and spending caps per key and for the whole company.
Allow-lists
Approved providers per company, team or key, and approved models per key. Fallbacks never route around them.
Audit log
Admin changes with before and after values, and a 12-month export of every request's model, provider and region rule.
Sign our Data Processing Agreement in the dashboard, and see every sub-processor with its purpose and location.
Create a company workspaceor write to contact@standardcompute.com
Questions
Is LiteLLM free for companies?
The LiteLLM proxy is open source. SSO beyond 5 users, audit logs and some governance features need an Enterprise license, priced by deployment size.
How is Kong AI Gateway priced?
Kong Konnect Plus charges $100 a month per model proxied by AI plugins, up to 5 models, with 1 million requests included and $200 per additional million. Enterprise is custom-priced and billed annually.
Which one has budgets per team?
LiteLLM offers budgets per key, user and team in open source. Kong sets token and cost limits with AI Rate Limiting Advanced, an Enterprise plugin.
Is there a managed alternative with the models included?
Standard Compute is a managed gateway for Claude, GPT, Gemini and open models. It routes each step to the cheapest model that can do it, with a Europe rule, zero data retention, Microsoft Entra sign-in, budgets per key and for the company, allow-lists and an audit log.
Sources (checked 9 November 2026)
- LiteLLM Enterprisedocs.litellm.ai
- LiteLLM deploy the proxydocs.litellm.ai
- LiteLLM production best practicesdocs.litellm.ai
- LiteLLM users, teams and budgetsdocs.litellm.ai
- Kong pricingkonghq.com
- Kong AI Proxy plugindeveloper.konghq.com
- Kong AI Rate Limiting Advanced plugindeveloper.konghq.com
- Kong Konnect audit logsdeveloper.konghq.com
- Kong Konnect geosdeveloper.konghq.com
- Kong AI Gatewaydeveloper.konghq.com
- LiteLLM on GitHub (license)github.com