--- title: "aisix vs ai-gateway" type: "comparison" canonical_url: "https://www.graphcanon.com/compare/api7-aisix-vs-ferro-labs-ai-gateway" tools: ["api7-aisix", "ferro-labs-ai-gateway"] --- # aisix vs ai-gateway *GraphCanon updated Sep 20, 2026* ## Verdict Pick aisix if aISIX is a Rust-native AI gateway designed for routing and managing traffic to various AI providers; pick ai-gateway if ai-gateway from Ferro Labs supports over 30 LLMs with integrated caching, guardrails, A/B testing, and cost controls, making it ideal for managing multiple language models in a production environment. [aisix](https://api7.ai/ai-gateway) reports 151 GitHub stars, 30 forks, and 106 open issues, last pushed Sep 13, 2026. [ai-gateway](https://docs.ferrolabs.ai) has 256 stars, 35 forks, and 68 open issues, last pushed Sep 10, 2026. Figures are from public GitHub metadata via [aisix's repository](https://github.com/api7/aisix) and [ai-gateway's repository](https://github.com/ferro-labs/ai-gateway). | | [aisix](/tools/api7-aisix.md) | [ai-gateway](/tools/ferro-labs-ai-gateway.md) | | --- | --- | --- | | Tagline | Open-source AI gateway for LLMs & AI agents | Unified AI Gateway for multiple LLMs with caching, guardrails, A/B testing, and cost controls | | Stars | 151 | 256 | | Forks | 30 | 35 | | Open issues | 106 | 68 | | Language | Rust | Go | | Adopt for | AISIX is a Rust-native AI gateway designed for routing and managing traffic to various AI providers | ai-gateway from Ferro Labs supports over 30 LLMs with integrated caching, guardrails, A/B testing, and cost controls, making it ideal for managing multiple language models in a production environment. | | 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 | Apache-2.0 - a permissive free software license | | Categories | AI Agents, Inference & Serving | Inference & Serving, Model Training | ## Trust and health _Sourced signals - not a safety guarantee. No winner column._ | | [aisix](/tools/api7-aisix.md) | [ai-gateway](/tools/ferro-labs-ai-gateway.md) | | --- | --- | --- | | Days since push | 0d | 2d | | Open issues (now) | 106 | 68 | | Stars delta | +59 (30d) | +37 (30d) | | Open issues delta | +8 (30d) | +5 (30d) | | Full report | [trust report](/tools/api7-aisix/trust.md) | [trust report](/tools/ferro-labs-ai-gateway/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: ai-gateway - **Adopt for:** ai-gateway from Ferro Labs supports over 30 LLMs with integrated caching, guardrails, A/B testing, and cost controls, making it ideal for managing multiple language models in a production environment. - **License detail:** Apache-2.0 - a permissive free software license ## Choose when ### Choose aisix if… - aisix is primarily Rust; ai-gateway is Go. - 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, self-hosted. - Also covers AI Agents. - aisix ships Docker support for self-hosted deployment. - When you need an OpenAI-compatible API that can route requests to multiple LLM providers like OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini, and Bedrock ### Choose ai-gateway if… - ai-gateway is primarily Go; aisix is Rust. - Tags unique to ai-gateway: ai-gateway, litellm, llm-cost, llm-proxy. - Also covers Model Training. - When you need to integrate more than 30 different LLM services including OpenAI and Anthropic ## 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 ai-gateway - If your project only involves one or two LLMs which does not necessitate the gateway's broad compatibility features - For small-scale projects that do not require comprehensive cost analysis tools - When custom integration for specific guardrails is required, as ai-gateway offers generalized settings ## Common questions ### What is the difference between aisix and ai-gateway? aisix: Open-source AI gateway for LLMs & AI agents. ai-gateway: Unified AI Gateway for multiple LLMs with caching, guardrails, A/B testing, and cost controls. See the comparison table for live GitHub stats and shared categories. ### When should I choose aisix over ai-gateway? Choose aisix over ai-gateway when aisix is primarily Rust; ai-gateway is Go; 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, self-hosted; Also covers AI Agents; aisix ships Docker support for self-hosted deployment; 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 ai-gateway over aisix? Choose ai-gateway over aisix when ai-gateway is primarily Go; aisix is Rust; Tags unique to ai-gateway: ai-gateway, litellm, llm-cost, llm-proxy; Also covers Model Training; When you need to integrate more than 30 different LLM services including OpenAI and Anthropic. ### 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 ai-gateway? If your project only involves one or two LLMs which does not necessitate the gateway's broad compatibility features For small-scale projects that do not require comprehensive cost analysis tools When custom integration for specific guardrails is required, as ai-gateway offers generalized settings ### Is aisix or ai-gateway more popular on GitHub? ai-gateway has more GitHub stars (256 vs 151). Stars measure visibility, not whether either tool fits your constraints. ### Are aisix and ai-gateway open source? Yes - both are open-source projects on GitHub (aisix: Apache-2.0, ai-gateway: Apache-2.0). ### Where can I find alternatives to aisix or ai-gateway? GraphCanon lists graph-backed alternatives at [aisix alternatives](/tools/api7-aisix/alternatives) and [ai-gateway alternatives](/tools/ferro-labs-ai-gateway/alternatives) ([aisix markdown twin](/tools/api7-aisix/alternatives.md), [ai-gateway markdown twin](/tools/ferro-labs-ai-gateway/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-ferro-labs-ai-gateway.md) mirrors this page for agents and LLM crawlers, with the same stats table and FAQ answers. ### Which is better maintained, aisix or ai-gateway? aisix: Very active. ai-gateway: Very 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 ai-gateway? GraphCanon publishes per-repo trust reports with dated maintenance, provenance, and scan summaries: [aisix trust report](/tools/api7-aisix/trust); [ai-gateway trust report](/tools/ferro-labs-ai-gateway/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/_