LLM gateways and observability · November 2026 Edition
LiteLLM vs OpenRouter
Six of fourteen models named LiteLLM first on the direct prompt; one named OpenRouter. Both were named by all fourteen models and LiteLLM carries 66 labels and OpenRouter 41, so the shares are not directly comparable.
Named in three categories this edition.
Named in one category this edition.
First-choice share36%2%Of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, 0 to 100.
Negative rate14%20%Negative labels as a share of the product's labels, 0 to 100.
Rank in category#1#6A position in a field of 9; printed, not drawn.
Labels6641A count; the two differ.
The two percentage rows are drawn on one 0 to 100 track, LiteLLM reading right to left. Rank and label count are printed, not drawn.Portkey was named alongside these two in fourteen of the fourteen direct answers. LiteLLM vs Portkey · LiteLLM vs Bifrost · LiteLLM vs Helicone
Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts over all fourteen models, for a mid-market B2B company; rank is within the category; every quote names the model and the prompt it came from. Both figures come from the LLM gateways and observability page.
By framing
How many of the fourteen models made each the first choice, per way of asking, and how many argued against it.
LiteLLMFirst choices, of fourteen modelsOpenRouter
Direct611 against OpenRouter
Paraphrase20
Comparative502 against OpenRouter
Budget-constrained1001 against OpenRouter
Scale-constrained10
Negative009 against LiteLLM · 4 against OpenRouter
Bars are first choices, 0 to 14 each sideModels that argued againstA model can name both, so the two sides of a row do not sum to fourteen.
Across every category in the November 2026 Edition, LiteLLM and OpenRouter were named in the same answer 113 times, of the 207 answers naming LiteLLM and the 120 naming OpenRouter. In those answers OpenRouter took the first choice five times and LiteLLM thirty-eight.
Every model, every framing
The eighty-four answers behind the chart above, one cell each: where LiteLLM and OpenRouter stood in it.
| Model | Direct | Paraphrase | Comparative | Budget-constrained | Scale-constrained | Negative |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Haiku 4.5 | | | | |||
| GPT-5.4 mini | | | | | ||
| Gemini 3.5 Flash | | | | | | |
| Perplexity Sonar | | | | | ||
| Grok 4.20 | | | | | | |
| Mistral Small | | | | | ||
| DeepSeek V4 Flash | | | | | | |
| Llama 4 Maverick | | | ||||
| Qwen 3.7 Flash | | | | | ||
| Kimi K2 | | | | | ||
| GLM 4.7 FlashX | | | | | | |
| MiniMax M2.5 | | | | |||
| GPT-6 Luna | | | | | | |
| Muse Glimmer 30B | | | | |
LiteLLM OpenRouter first choice named as an alternative argued againstblank: not namedEach cell is one answer, LiteLLM on the left and OpenRouter on the right.The direct prompt
The plain question, one answer per model, grouped by where LiteLLM and OpenRouter stood in it.
LiteLLM first, OpenRouter an alternative
6 of 14 modelsOpenRouter was named in the answer but not as the choice, or not at all.Gemini 3.5 FlashLiteLLM, Portkey alternatives: Bifrost, Cloudflare AI Gateway
Mistral SmallLiteLLM, Portkey alternatives: OpenRouter, Requesty
Qwen 3.7 FlashLiteLLM, Portkey alternatives: Bifrost, Cloudflare AI Gateway, Kong AI Gateway, OpenRouter
GLM 4.7 FlashXLiteLLM alternatives: Bifrost, Kong AI Gateway, Portkey
MiniMax M2.5LiteLLM alternatives: Cloudflare AI Gateway, Helicone, OpenRouter, Portkey
Muse Glimmer 30BLiteLLM, Portkey alternatives: Kong AI Gateway, TrueFoundry AI Gateway
OpenRouter first, LiteLLM an alternative
1 of 14 modelsLiteLLM was named in the answer but not as the choice, or not at all.GPT-5.4 miniOpenRouter alternatives: Kong AI Gateway, LiteLLM, Portkey
Neither was the first choice, one was named
7 of 14 modelsThe answer put something else first and named one of the two as an alternative.Claude Haiku 4.5Nexos.ai, Portkey alternatives: Bifrost, LiteLLM, OpenRouter
Perplexity SonarPortkey alternatives: Bifrost, LiteLLM, OpenRouter
Grok 4.20Portkey alternatives: Cloudflare AI Gateway, LiteLLM
DeepSeek V4 FlashBifrost, Portkey alternatives: Amazon Bedrock, Azure API Management, LiteLLM
Llama 4 MaverickFastRouter alternatives: Concentrate, LiteLLM, OpenRouter, Portkey
Kimi K2Portkey alternatives: FastRouter, Kong AI Gateway, LiteLLM, TrueFoundry AI Gateway
GPT-6 LunaPortkey alternatives: Cloudflare AI Gateway, LiteLLM
Bold names in an answer are the products the judge labeled a first choice; a model naming several gives each of them that label. The full answer text for every row is in the record.
By buyer segment
The same question asked on behalf of a different buyer. Each standing is computed within its segment and they are never added together. The figures above are the mid-market standing, which is the one the category orders by.
Small business
LiteLLM leads by twenty-six points.
LiteLLM33%#2 of 9OpenRouter7%#4 of 9Mid-marketThe figures above
LiteLLM leads by thirty-four points.
LiteLLM36%#1 of 9OpenRouter2%#6 of 9Enterprise
LiteLLM leads by eighteen points.
LiteLLM18%#2 of 10OpenRouter0%#10 of 10What the models said about LiteLLM
Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Six of eight in this category shown.
“"LiteLLM put a credential stealer on PyPI and Docker on the day of my test, its second compromised release this year." [6]” Muse Glimmer 30B · negative prompt · hard negative
“you should be especially cautious about—or avoid—self-hosted or open-source LLM gateways like LiteLLM and Ollama” Mistral Small · negative prompt · hard negative
“The clearest current red flag is LiteLLM’s 2026 package/container compromises; avoid unverified versions” Perplexity Sonar · negative prompt · hard negative
“The de facto open-source standard for multi-provider integration... Choose LiteLLM if you want a flexible, open-source proxy to eliminate vendor lock-in” Gemini 3.5 Flash · comparative prompt · first choice
“Best overall for a limited budget: Self‑host LiteLLM (or Bifrost) → pay only provider rates, full control, and strong cost governance.” GLM 4.7 FlashX · budget prompt · first choice
“Choose LiteLLM if you are a Python shop, need to self-host for data compliance, or want granular control over complex routing rules.” Qwen 3.7 Flash · comparative prompt · first choice
What the models said about OpenRouter
Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Six of eight in this category shown.
“The one I would not recommend for a mid-market B2B company is OpenRouter” DeepSeek V4 Flash · direct prompt · hard negative
“"avoid OpenRouter for anything with sensitive/PII data" [4]” Muse Glimmer 30B · negative prompt · hard negative
“Exercise caution with OpenRouter, Portkey, Vercel AI Gateway, and similar services when prompts contain personal, regulated, proprietary, or agent data.” Perplexity Sonar · negative prompt · soft negative
“Best default for most mid-market teams: OpenRouter” GPT-5.4 mini · direct prompt · first choice
“Well‑documented, transparent marketplaces that expose provider lists, pricing, and model performance data (e.g., OpenRouter, Portkey AI Gateway)” GLM 4.7 FlashX · negative prompt · alternative
“Choose Cloudflare or OpenRouter if you want zero infrastructure maintenance and fast deployment out of the box.” Gemini 3.5 Flash · comparative prompt · alternative
Also compared
Comparisons are drawn for the top eight products in each category, each against each. The output is the models' output; nothing here is a recommendation by the index.