--- title: "litellm vs BELLE" type: "comparison" canonical_url: "https://www.graphcanon.com/compare/berriai-litellm-vs-lianjiatech-belle" tools: ["berriai-litellm", "lianjiatech-belle"] --- # litellm vs BELLE *GraphCanon updated Aug 1, 2026* ## Verdict Pick litellm if litellm is a Python SDK and Proxy Server that facilitates the interaction with over 100 LLM APIs, offering features such as cost tracking, guardrails, load balancing, and logging; pick BELLE if bELLE is an open-source Chinese dialogue large model that focuses on improving instruction-following capabilities through fine-tuned pre-training models. [litellm](https://docs.litellm.ai/docs/) reports 55k GitHub stars, 10k forks, and 4.6k open issues, last pushed Aug 1, 2026. [BELLE](https://github.com/LianjiaTech/BELLE) has 8.3k stars, 758 forks, and 106 open issues, last pushed Oct 16, 2024. Figures are from public GitHub metadata via [litellm's repository](https://github.com/BerriAI/litellm) and [BELLE's repository](https://github.com/LianjiaTech/BELLE). | | [litellm](/tools/berriai-litellm.md) | [BELLE](/tools/lianjiatech-belle.md) | | --- | --- | --- | | Tagline | Python SDK and Proxy Server for calling multiple LLM APIs | Open-source Chinese dialogue large model | | Stars | 55,221 | 8,280 | | Forks | 10,231 | 758 | | Open issues | 4,634 | 106 | | Language | Python | HTML | | Adopt for | litellm is a Python SDK and Proxy Server that facilitates the interaction with over 100 LLM APIs, offering features such as cost tracking, guardrails, load balancing, and logging. | BELLE is an open-source Chinese dialogue large model that focuses on improving instruction-following capabilities through fine-tuned pre-training models. | | Persona | - | - | | Runtime | - | - | | License | The licensing terms for LiteLLM are provided under a license type categorized as 'Other'; details of the exact license should be referenced directly from its source. | Available under the Apache-2.0 license. | | Categories | Inference & Serving, LLM Frameworks | Inference & Serving, LLM Frameworks, Model Training | ## Trust and health _Sourced signals - not a safety guarantee. No winner column._ | | [litellm](/tools/berriai-litellm.md) | [BELLE](/tools/lianjiatech-belle.md) | | --- | --- | --- | | Maintenance | Very active (96%) | Dormant (18%) | | Days since push | 0d | 654d | | Open issues (now) | 4.6k | 106 | | Full report | [trust report](/tools/berriai-litellm/trust.md) | [trust report](/tools/lianjiatech-belle/trust.md) | ## Decision facts: litellm - **Pricing:** freemium - While the core functionality is provided free, specific extended features might require a paid plan. - **Requirements:** Requires Docker - **Adopt for:** litellm is a Python SDK and Proxy Server that facilitates the interaction with over 100 LLM APIs, offering features such as cost tracking, guardrails, load balancing, and logging. - **License detail:** The licensing terms for LiteLLM are provided under a license type categorized as 'Other'; details of the exact license should be referenced directly from its source. ## Decision facts: BELLE - **Hosting:** harness plugin - BELLE models are hosted on Hugging Face, contributing to a growing ecosystem of open-source language models. - **Pricing:** freemium - Free for non-commercial use under the Apache 2.0 license; commercial projects should review compliance or seek additional licensing options as needed. - **Adopt for:** BELLE is an open-source Chinese dialogue large model that focuses on improving instruction-following capabilities through fine-tuned pre-training models. - **License detail:** Available under the Apache-2.0 license. ## Choose when ### Choose litellm if… - litellm is primarily Python; BELLE is HTML. - License: litellm is Other, BELLE is Apache-2.0. - Pricing: While the core functionality is provided free, specific extended features might require a paid plan.. - Requirements: Requires Docker. - Tags unique to litellm: ai-gateway, azure-openai, bedrock, llm. - litellm ships Docker support for self-hosted deployment. - When you need to integrate multiple LLM (Language Learning Modelling) APIs into your application across different providers like Bedrock, Azure, OpenAI, VertexAI, Cohere, Anthropic, Sagemaker, Hugging ### Choose BELLE if… - BELLE is primarily HTML; litellm is Python. - License: BELLE is Apache-2.0, litellm is Other. - BELLE models are hosted on Hugging Face, contributing to a growing ecosystem of open-source language models. - Pricing: Free for non-commercial use under the Apache 2.0 license; commercial projects should review compliance or seek additional licensing options as needed.. - Tags unique to BELLE: chinese-nlp, gpt-evaluation, instruct-finetune, llama. - Also covers Model Training. - When you need a specifically optimized language model for the Chinese language with enhanced dialogue capabilities. ## When NOT to use litellm - If your project only requires interaction with a single LLM API and basic functionalities, litellm may be overkill. ## When NOT to use BELLE - When the project requires a multi-lingual model or extensive support for languages other than Chinese. - For applications that do not need fine-tuned instruction-following capabilities, since BELLE is particularly optimized for this aspect using data from ChatGPT exclusively. - If real-time voice recognition speed is critical and a slight delay can be tolerated, as alternatives may offer more balanced performance. ## Common questions ### What is the difference between litellm and BELLE? litellm: Python SDK and Proxy Server for calling multiple LLM APIs. BELLE: Open-source Chinese dialogue large model. See the comparison table for live GitHub stats and shared categories. ### When should I choose litellm over BELLE? Choose litellm over BELLE when litellm is primarily Python; BELLE is HTML; License: litellm is Other, BELLE is Apache-2.0; Pricing: While the core functionality is provided free, specific extended features might require a paid plan.; Requirements: Requires Docker; Tags unique to litellm: ai-gateway, azure-openai, bedrock, llm; litellm ships Docker support for self-hosted deployment; When you need to integrate multiple LLM (Language Learning Modelling) APIs into your application across different providers like Bedrock, Azure, OpenAI, VertexAI, Cohere, Anthropic, Sagemaker, Hugging. ### When should I choose BELLE over litellm? Choose BELLE over litellm when BELLE is primarily HTML; litellm is Python; License: BELLE is Apache-2.0, litellm is Other; BELLE models are hosted on Hugging Face, contributing to a growing ecosystem of open-source language models; Pricing: Free for non-commercial use under the Apache 2.0 license; commercial projects should review compliance or seek additional licensing options as needed.; Tags unique to BELLE: chinese-nlp, gpt-evaluation, instruct-finetune, llama; Also covers Model Training; When you need a specifically optimized language model for the Chinese language with enhanced dialogue capabilities. ### When should I avoid litellm? If your project only requires interaction with a single LLM API and basic functionalities, litellm may be overkill. ### When should I avoid BELLE? When the project requires a multi-lingual model or extensive support for languages other than Chinese. For applications that do not need fine-tuned instruction-following capabilities, since BELLE is particularly optimized for this aspect using data from ChatGPT exclusively. If real-time voice recognition speed is critical and a slight delay can be tolerated, as alternatives may offer more balanced performance. ### Is litellm or BELLE more popular on GitHub? litellm has more GitHub stars (55,221 vs 8,280). Stars measure visibility, not whether either tool fits your constraints. ### Are litellm and BELLE open source? Yes - both are open-source projects on GitHub (litellm: Other, BELLE: Apache-2.0). ### Where can I find alternatives to litellm or BELLE? GraphCanon lists graph-backed alternatives at [litellm alternatives](/tools/berriai-litellm/alternatives) and [BELLE alternatives](/tools/lianjiatech-belle/alternatives) ([litellm markdown twin](/tools/berriai-litellm/alternatives.md), [BELLE markdown twin](/tools/lianjiatech-belle/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/berriai-litellm-vs-lianjiatech-belle.md) mirrors this page for agents and LLM crawlers, with the same stats table and FAQ answers. ### Which is better maintained, litellm or BELLE? litellm: Very active. BELLE: Dormant. 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 litellm and BELLE? GraphCanon publishes per-repo trust reports with dated maintenance, provenance, and scan summaries: [litellm trust report](/tools/berriai-litellm/trust); [BELLE trust report](/tools/lianjiatech-belle/trust). --- **Machine-readable endpoints** - JSON: [`/api/graphcanon/graph?tool=berriai-litellm`](/api/graphcanon/graph?tool=berriai-litellm) - 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/_