# 6 Best Open Source Alternatives for Vercel AI Gateway

Canonical: https://caniforkit.com/vercel-ai-gateway
Last updated: 2026-11-07

Looking for the best open source alternative for Vercel AI Gateway? Compare 6 verified free and open source alternatives to Vercel AI Gateway (LiteLLM, Portkey AI Gateway, Bifrost) with license details, self-hosting requirements, and practical trade-offs.

## Vercel AI Gateway Overview & Subscription Cost
- **Product**: Vercel AI Gateway
- **Category**: [dev tools](https://caniforkit.com/category/dev-tools)
- **Paid Subscription Price**: $25/month per seat
- **1-Seat Annualized Cost**: $300/year
- **5-Person Team Annualized Cost**: $1,500/year
- **10-Person Team Annualized Cost**: $3,000/year
- **Can I Vibe-Code / Rebuild It Myself?**: NO (use a free alternative, save the tokens)
- **Rebuild Verdict**: Instead of paying recurring SaaS fees for Vercel AI Gateway or rebuilding it from scratch, deploy one of the 6 battle-tested open-source alternatives like LiteLLM.

## Verified Free & Open Source Alternatives

| Alternative | Type | License | Runs On | GitHub Stars | Head-to-Head |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [LiteLLM](https://caniforkit.com/fork/litellm) | Open Source | Open Source | Self-host | ★ 62.9k | [Compare vs Vercel AI Gateway](https://caniforkit.com/vs/vercel-ai-gateway-vs-litellm) |
| [Portkey AI Gateway](https://caniforkit.com/fork/portkey-ai-gateway) | Open Source | Open Source | Local | ★ 13.3k | [Compare vs Vercel AI Gateway](https://caniforkit.com/vs/vercel-ai-gateway-vs-portkey-ai-gateway) |
| [Bifrost](https://caniforkit.com/fork/bifrost) | Open Source | Open Source | Local | ★ 9.4k | [Compare vs Vercel AI Gateway](https://caniforkit.com/vs/vercel-ai-gateway-vs-bifrost) |
| [Envoy AI Gateway](https://caniforkit.com/fork/envoy-ai-gateway) | Open Source | Open Source | Local | ★ 2.4k | [Compare vs Vercel AI Gateway](https://caniforkit.com/vs/vercel-ai-gateway-vs-envoy-ai-gateway) |
| [LLM Gateway](https://caniforkit.com/fork/llm-gateway) | Open Source | Open Source | Self-host | ★ 1.7k | [Compare vs Vercel AI Gateway](https://caniforkit.com/vs/vercel-ai-gateway-vs-llm-gateway) |
| [Grepture](https://caniforkit.com/fork/grepture) | Open Source | Open Source | Local | ★ 12 | [Compare vs Vercel AI Gateway](https://caniforkit.com/vs/vercel-ai-gateway-vs-grepture) |

## In-Depth Alternative Profiles

### LiteLLM
- **Fork Page**: [LiteLLM Profile](https://caniforkit.com/fork/litellm)
- **Head-to-Head Comparison**: [Vercel AI Gateway vs LiteLLM](https://caniforkit.com/vs/vercel-ai-gateway-vs-litellm)
- **Official Website**: https://www.litellm.ai/
- **Source Code Repository**: https://github.com/berriai/litellm
- **License**: Open Source
- **Runs On**: Self-host
- **GitHub Stars**: 62.9k
- **Maintenance Activity**: nov 2026
- **Supported Platforms**: web, self-hosted, docker to self-host
- **Summary**: Acts as a unified proxy across 100+ LLMs, normalizing them to the OpenAI format while handling virtual keys, budgets, rate limits, fallbacks, and cost tracking.
- **The Catch vs Vercel AI Gateway**: Requires self-hosting setup, updates, and server maintenance compared to managed Vercel AI Gateway.
- **Installation**: Clone https://github.com/berriai/litellm or deploy with Docker Compose
- **Setup**: Deploy via Docker or binary release from GitHub and configure environment variables.
- **Data Storage**: All application data and configuration live on your own server or local database.

### Portkey AI Gateway
- **Fork Page**: [Portkey AI Gateway Profile](https://caniforkit.com/fork/portkey-ai-gateway)
- **Head-to-Head Comparison**: [Vercel AI Gateway vs Portkey AI Gateway](https://caniforkit.com/vs/vercel-ai-gateway-vs-portkey-ai-gateway)
- **Official Website**: https://portkey.ai
- **Source Code Repository**: https://github.com/portkey-ai/gateway
- **License**: Open Source
- **Runs On**: Local
- **GitHub Stars**: 13.3k
- **Maintenance Activity**: nov 2026
- **Supported Platforms**: desktop, cross-platform, one-click install
- **Summary**: Comprehensive AI platform with gateway, observability, guardrails, and prompt management. Access 1,600+ LLMs via unified API with enterprise-grade security.
- **The Catch vs Vercel AI Gateway**: Community-driven open source project without dedicated enterprise SLAs.
- **Installation**: Clone https://github.com/portkey-ai/gateway or deploy with Docker Compose
- **Setup**: Download the native package or installer for your operating system.
- **Data Storage**: All application data lives locally on your own machine.

### Bifrost
- **Fork Page**: [Bifrost Profile](https://caniforkit.com/fork/bifrost)
- **Head-to-Head Comparison**: [Vercel AI Gateway vs Bifrost](https://caniforkit.com/vs/vercel-ai-gateway-vs-bifrost)
- **Official Website**: https://www.getmaxim.ai/bifrost
- **Source Code Repository**: https://github.com/maximhq/bifrost
- **License**: Open Source
- **Runs On**: Local
- **GitHub Stars**: 9.4k
- **Maintenance Activity**: nov 2026
- **Supported Platforms**: desktop, cross-platform, one-click install
- **Summary**: Open-source AI gateway delivering 50x faster performance than alternatives. Access 1000+ models from 8+ providers with built-in governance, fallback, and observability.
- **The Catch vs Vercel AI Gateway**: Community-driven open source project without dedicated enterprise SLAs.
- **Installation**: Clone https://github.com/maximhq/bifrost or deploy with Docker Compose
- **Setup**: Download the native package or installer for your operating system.
- **Data Storage**: All application data lives locally on your own machine.

### Envoy AI Gateway
- **Fork Page**: [Envoy AI Gateway Profile](https://caniforkit.com/fork/envoy-ai-gateway)
- **Head-to-Head Comparison**: [Vercel AI Gateway vs Envoy AI Gateway](https://caniforkit.com/vs/vercel-ai-gateway-vs-envoy-ai-gateway)
- **Official Website**: https://aigateway.envoyproxy.io
- **Source Code Repository**: https://github.com/envoyproxy/ai-gateway
- **License**: Open Source
- **Runs On**: Local
- **GitHub Stars**: 2.4k
- **Maintenance Activity**: nov 2026
- **Supported Platforms**: desktop, cross-platform, one-click install
- **Summary**: Open source gateway built on Envoy for routing application traffic to GenAI services. Supports 16+ LLM providers including OpenAI, Anthropic, AWS Bedrock.
- **The Catch vs Vercel AI Gateway**: Community-driven open source project without dedicated enterprise SLAs.
- **Installation**: Clone https://github.com/envoyproxy/ai-gateway or deploy with Docker Compose
- **Setup**: Download the native package or installer for your operating system.
- **Data Storage**: All application data lives locally on your own machine.

### LLM Gateway
- **Fork Page**: [LLM Gateway Profile](https://caniforkit.com/fork/llm-gateway)
- **Head-to-Head Comparison**: [Vercel AI Gateway vs LLM Gateway](https://caniforkit.com/vs/vercel-ai-gateway-vs-llm-gateway)
- **Official Website**: https://llmgateway.io
- **Source Code Repository**: https://github.com/theopenco/llmgateway
- **License**: Open Source
- **Runs On**: Self-host
- **GitHub Stars**: 1.7k
- **Maintenance Activity**: nov 2026
- **Supported Platforms**: web, self-hosted, docker to self-host
- **Summary**: Route, manage, and analyze LLM requests across multiple providers with one API. Compatible with OpenAI format, includes usage analytics and performance monitoring.
- **The Catch vs Vercel AI Gateway**: Requires self-hosting setup, updates, and server maintenance compared to managed Vercel AI Gateway.
- **Installation**: Clone https://github.com/theopenco/llmgateway or deploy with Docker Compose
- **Setup**: Deploy via Docker or binary release from GitHub and configure environment variables.
- **Data Storage**: All application data and configuration live on your own server or local database.

### Grepture
- **Fork Page**: [Grepture Profile](https://caniforkit.com/fork/grepture)
- **Head-to-Head Comparison**: [Vercel AI Gateway vs Grepture](https://caniforkit.com/vs/vercel-ai-gateway-vs-grepture)
- **Official Website**: https://grepture.com/
- **Source Code Repository**: https://github.com/grepture/proxy
- **License**: Open Source
- **Runs On**: Local
- **GitHub Stars**: 12
- **Maintenance Activity**: nov 2026
- **Supported Platforms**: desktop, cross-platform, one-click install
- **Summary**: An AI gateway that sits on the request path to handle PII redaction, prompt injection blocking, tracing, evals, and cost tracking for OpenAI, Anthropic, and Gemini.
- **The Catch vs Vercel AI Gateway**: Community-driven open source project without dedicated enterprise SLAs.
- **Installation**: Clone https://github.com/grepture/proxy or deploy with Docker Compose
- **Setup**: Download the native package or installer for your operating system.
- **Data Storage**: All application data lives locally on your own machine.

## Frequently Asked Questions

### What is the best free alternative to Vercel AI Gateway?
The top free alternative to Vercel AI Gateway is LiteLLM (open source, Open Source). Acts as a unified proxy across 100+ LLMs, normalizing them to the OpenAI format while handling virtual keys, budgets, rate limits, fallbacks, and cost tracking. Other popular Vercel AI Gateway replacements include Portkey AI Gateway, Bifrost, Envoy AI Gateway.

### How much does switching from Vercel AI Gateway to a free alternative save?
Vercel AI Gateway starts at $25/month per seat ($300/year). Switching a 5-person team to a free alternative like LiteLLM saves $1,500 per year in software subscription fees.

### What is the catch when switching away from Vercel AI Gateway?
While LiteLLM replaces core Vercel AI Gateway features without subscription fees, the real-world trade-off is: Requires self-hosting setup, updates, and server maintenance compared to managed Vercel AI Gateway.

## Related

- [dev tools Software Category Hub](https://caniforkit.com/category/dev-tools)
- [All Paid SaaS Alternatives Index](https://caniforkit.com/alternatives)
- [Self-Hosted Software Directory](https://caniforkit.com/self-hosted)
- [Homepage](https://caniforkit.com)