--- title: "aisix vs airunner" type: "comparison" canonical_url: "https://www.graphcanon.com/compare/api7-aisix-vs-capsize-games-airunner" tools: ["api7-aisix", "capsize-games-airunner"] --- # aisix vs airunner *GraphCanon updated Aug 9, 2026* ## Verdict Pick aisix if aISIX is a Rust-native AI gateway designed for routing and managing traffic to various AI providers; pick airunner if aIRunner supports offline multimodal operations with a strong focus on image generation, real-time voice conversations, and LLM-powered chatbots via GUI or API. [aisix](https://api7.ai/ai-gateway) reports 92 GitHub stars, 15 forks, and 98 open issues, last pushed Aug 8, 2026. [airunner](https://airunner.capsizegames.com) has 1.3k stars, 100 forks, and 5 open issues, last pushed Jul 8, 2026. Figures are from public GitHub metadata via [aisix's repository](https://github.com/api7/aisix) and [airunner's repository](https://github.com/Capsize-Games/airunner). | | [aisix](/tools/api7-aisix.md) | [airunner](/tools/capsize-games-airunner.md) | | --- | --- | --- | | Tagline | Open-source AI gateway for LLMs & AI agents | Offline inference engine for art, real-time voice conversations, LLM powered chatbots and automated workflows | | Stars | 92 | 1,312 | | Forks | 15 | 100 | | Open issues | 98 | 5 | | Language | Rust | Python | | Adopt for | AISIX is a Rust-native AI gateway designed for routing and managing traffic to various AI providers | AIRunner supports offline multimodal operations with a strong focus on image generation, real-time voice conversations, and LLM-powered chatbots via GUI or API. | | Persona | - | - | | Runtime | - | - | | License | AISIX is available under the Apache License, Version 2.0 which allows you to freely use, modify, and distribute it with proper attribution | GPL-3.0, ensuring free use but requiring sharing of modifications in a similar manner. | | Categories | AI Agents, Inference & Serving | Computer Vision, Inference & Serving, Speech & Audio | ## Trust and health _Sourced signals - not a safety guarantee. No winner column._ | | [aisix](/tools/api7-aisix.md) | [airunner](/tools/capsize-games-airunner.md) | | --- | --- | --- | | Maintenance | Very active (96%) | Active (82%) | | Days since push | 1d | 21d | | Open issues (now) | 98 | 5 | | Full report | [trust report](/tools/api7-aisix/trust.md) | [trust report](/tools/capsize-games-airunner/trust.md) | ## Decision facts: aisix - **Pricing:** freemium - The open-source core (AISIX Gateway) can be used for free. For advanced features like team governance, budgets, and audit dashboard access, the AISIX Cloud is available on a managed SaaS model. - **Requirements:** Requires etcd running to store configurations; Self-hosted setup requires Docker Compose for local testing with example configuration files - **Adopt for:** AISIX is a Rust-native AI gateway designed for routing and managing traffic to various AI providers - **License detail:** AISIX is available under the Apache License, Version 2.0 which allows you to freely use, modify, and distribute it with proper attribution ## Decision facts: airunner - **Requirements:** Min 16 GB RAM; Requires Docker; Requires specific GPU support (NVIDIA) and larger storage allocations compared to competitors - **Adopt for:** AIRunner supports offline multimodal operations with a strong focus on image generation, real-time voice conversations, and LLM-powered chatbots via GUI or API. - **License detail:** GPL-3.0, ensuring free use but requiring sharing of modifications in a similar manner. ## Choose when ### Choose aisix if… - aisix is primarily Rust; airunner is Python. - License: aisix is Apache-2.0, airunner is GPL-3.0. - Pricing: The open-source core (AISIX Gateway) can be used for free. For advanced features like team governance, budgets, and audit dashboard access, the AISIX Cloud is available on a managed SaaS model.. - Requirements: Requires etcd running to store configurations; Self-hosted setup requires Docker Compose for local testing with example configuration files. - Tags unique to aisix: ai-agents, llm-gateway, observability, openai-compatible. - Also covers AI Agents. - When you need an OpenAI-compatible API that can route requests to multiple LLM providers like OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini, and Bedrock ### Choose airunner if… - airunner is primarily Python; aisix is Rust. - License: airunner is GPL-3.0, aisix is Apache-2.0. - Requirements: Min 16 GB RAM; Requires Docker; Requires specific GPU support (NVIDIA) and larger storage allocations compared to competitors. - Tags unique to airunner: ai-art, chatbot, image-generation, speech-to-text. - Also covers Computer Vision, Speech & Audio. - When needing an all-inclusive offline tool for both image generation and speech-to-text/text-to-speech functionalities ## When NOT to use aisix - If you require a fully managed service with minimal setup and configuration since AISIX requires self-hosting or connecting to AISIX Cloud for management features - For projects preferring dynamic languages over statically compiled binaries, given that AISIX is built in Rust and ships as one static binary ## When NOT to use airunner - If your primary need is cloud-based services as AIRunner focuses on local deployments only - In scenarios where minimal hardware requirements are crucial, given AIRunner's higher system demands (min. 16 GB RAM, NVIDIA RTX 3060) ## Common questions ### What is the difference between aisix and airunner? aisix: Open-source AI gateway for LLMs & AI agents. airunner: Offline inference engine for art, real-time voice conversations, LLM powered chatbots and automated workflows. See the comparison table for live GitHub stats and shared categories. ### When should I choose aisix over airunner? Choose aisix over airunner when aisix is primarily Rust; airunner is Python; License: aisix is Apache-2.0, airunner is GPL-3.0; Pricing: The open-source core (AISIX Gateway) can be used for free. For advanced features like team governance, budgets, and audit dashboard access, the AISIX Cloud is available on a managed SaaS model.; Requirements: Requires etcd running to store configurations; Self-hosted setup requires Docker Compose for local testing with example configuration files; Tags unique to aisix: ai-agents, llm-gateway, observability, openai-compatible; Also covers AI Agents; When you need an OpenAI-compatible API that can route requests to multiple LLM providers like OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini, and Bedrock. ### When should I choose airunner over aisix? Choose airunner over aisix when airunner is primarily Python; aisix is Rust; License: airunner is GPL-3.0, aisix is Apache-2.0; Requirements: Min 16 GB RAM; Requires Docker; Requires specific GPU support (NVIDIA) and larger storage allocations compared to competitors; Tags unique to airunner: ai-art, chatbot, image-generation, speech-to-text; Also covers Computer Vision, Speech & Audio; When needing an all-inclusive offline tool for both image generation and speech-to-text/text-to-speech functionalities. ### When should I avoid aisix? If you require a fully managed service with minimal setup and configuration since AISIX requires self-hosting or connecting to AISIX Cloud for management features For projects preferring dynamic languages over statically compiled binaries, given that AISIX is built in Rust and ships as one static binary ### When should I avoid airunner? If your primary need is cloud-based services as AIRunner focuses on local deployments only In scenarios where minimal hardware requirements are crucial, given AIRunner's higher system demands (min. 16 GB RAM, NVIDIA RTX 3060) ### Is aisix or airunner more popular on GitHub? airunner has more GitHub stars (1,312 vs 92). Stars measure visibility, not whether either tool fits your constraints. ### Are aisix and airunner open source? Yes - both are open-source projects on GitHub (aisix: Apache-2.0, airunner: GPL-3.0). ### Where can I find alternatives to aisix or airunner? GraphCanon lists graph-backed alternatives at [aisix alternatives](/tools/api7-aisix/alternatives) and [airunner alternatives](/tools/capsize-games-airunner/alternatives) ([aisix markdown twin](/tools/api7-aisix/alternatives.md), [airunner markdown twin](/tools/capsize-games-airunner/alternatives.md)), ranked by typed relationship edges rather than popularity votes. ### Is there a machine-readable version of this comparison? Yes. The markdown twin at [this comparison](/compare/api7-aisix-vs-capsize-games-airunner.md) mirrors this page for agents and LLM crawlers, with the same stats table and FAQ answers. ### Which is better maintained, aisix or airunner? aisix: Very active. airunner: Active. Compare maintenance labels, days since push, and release cadence in the trust section below - stars alone do not measure maintenance. ### Where are the full trust reports for aisix and airunner? GraphCanon publishes per-repo trust reports with dated maintenance, provenance, and scan summaries: [aisix trust report](/tools/api7-aisix/trust); [airunner trust report](/tools/capsize-games-airunner/trust). --- **Machine-readable endpoints** - JSON: [`/api/graphcanon/graph?tool=api7-aisix`](/api/graphcanon/graph?tool=api7-aisix) - LLM index: [/llms.txt](/llms.txt) - Full corpus: [/llms-full.txt](/llms-full.txt) _GraphCanon - The knowledge graph for AI development. https://www.graphcanon.com/_