# LiteLLM: how AI models rank it, November 2026

Gane Index, November 2026 Edition. Named in 69 judge labels across 3 categories by 14 of 14 models. Page: https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/litellm

## Standing by category

| Category | Share | Rank | Negative rate | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [LLM gateways and observability](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/it-data/llm-gateways-and-observability/index.md) | 36% | 1 | 14% | 66 |
| [AI governance platforms](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/it-data/ai-governance-platforms/index.md) | 0% | 47 | 0% | 2 |
| [AI security platforms](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/security/ai-security-platforms/index.md) | 0% | 187 | 100% | 1 |

## What the models said for it

- "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, LLM gateways)
- "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, LLM gateways)
- "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, LLM gateways)
- "Start with LiteLLM if you have technical capacity—it's free to self-host with core features included." (MiniMax M2.5, LLM gateways)

## And against it

- ""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, LLM gateways)
- "you should be especially cautious about—or avoid—self-hosted or open-source LLM gateways like LiteLLM and Ollama" (Mistral Small, LLM gateways)
- "The clearest current red flag is LiteLLM’s 2026 package/container compromises; avoid unverified versions" (Perplexity Sonar, LLM gateways)
- "Immediate Red Flag: LiteLLM ... two supply chain compromises in 2026 alone" (DeepSeek V4 Flash, LLM gateways)

## By model

| Model | First choice | Alternative | Mention | Warning | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Haiku 4.5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| GPT-5.4 mini | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Gemini 3.5 Flash | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6 |
| Perplexity Sonar | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| Grok 4.20 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 7 |
| Mistral Small | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 6 |
| DeepSeek V4 Flash | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
| Llama 4 Maverick | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 |
| Qwen 3.7 Flash | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| Kimi K2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 8 |
| GLM 4.7 FlashX | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 6 |
| MiniMax M2.5 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| GPT-6 Luna | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| Muse Glimmer 30B | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 |

## Sources returned with these answers

The sites and pages cited by the answers that named LiteLLM, from 196 of the 207 answers that named it (only the models that return a source list).

### Domains cited

- getmaxim.ai: 114
- dev.to: 106
- github.com: 65
- llmgateway.io: 47
- requesty.ai: 43
- gane.ai/index: 42
- respan.ai: 42
- litellm.ai: 37 (its own site)
- portkey.ai: 35
- openrouter.ai: 32

### Pages cited

- https://dev.to/ericthompson21/when-is-a-managed-llm-gateway-worth-its-cost-5959: 37
- https://requesty.ai/blog/best-managed-llm-gateway: 32
- https://cloudzero.com/blog/llm-gateways: 29
- https://respan.ai/articles/best-llm-gateways: 29
- https://dataiku.com/blog/best-llm-gateways: 26
- https://concentrate.ai/blog/the-9-best-llm-gateways-in-2026-grouped-by-the-job-they-do: 24
- https://www.gane.ai/index/it/it-data/llm-gateways-and-observability/smb: 21
- https://llmgateway.io/: 21

## In its own words

What LiteLLM's own pages state, read 2026-09-28. Stated by the vendor, not checked by the index.

- Positioning: Open-Source AI Gateway & LLM Proxy (https://litellm.ai/)
- For: platform teams (https://litellm.ai/)
- Price stated: $0 Free forever. (https://litellm.ai/)
- Starting price: 0 (https://litellm.ai/)
- Free plan or trial: $0 Free forever. Includes: 140+ LLM provider integrations, Langfuse, Arize Phoenix, LangSmith, and OTEL logging, Virtual keys, budgets, and teams, Load balancing and RPM/TPM limits, LLM guardrails. No credit card. Self-host in minutes. (https://litellm.ai/)
- Integrations claimed: 140 (https://litellm.ai/); 100 (https://www.litellm.ai/pricing) (pages disagree)
- Customers named: NVIDIA, Lemonade, Netflix, Okta, AT&T Data Office

## What it publishes

Every page litellm.ai exposes, read 2026-09-29: 1357 addresses. By kind, pages and the last 90 days:

- report or ebook: 11 pages, 0 in the last 90 days, latest undated
- comparison: 2 pages, 0 in the last 90 days, latest undated
- template or tool: 2 pages, 1 in the last 90 days, latest 2026-09-26
- glossary or explainer: 4 pages, 0 in the last 90 days, latest undated
- Recent: 2026-09-26 template or tool: Litellm roi calculator https://docs.litellm.ai/blog/litellm-roi-calculator

## Record

- Method: https://www.gane.ai/index/it/methodology
- License: CC BY 4.0. Cite as Gane Index, November 2026 Edition, www.gane.ai/index/it.