Comparison
ai-gateway vs paddler
Verdict
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; pick paddler if paddler offers a streamlined approach to serve LLMs/VLMs with minimal setup complexity, focusing on scaling through simplicity.
Markdown twin · ai-gateway alternatives · paddler alternatives
GraphCanon updated 1w
vs
Trust & integrity
| Signal | ai-gateway | paddler |
|---|---|---|
| Maintenance | Very active (2d since push) As of 1w · github_public_v1 | Very active (1d since push) As of 1mo · github_public_v1 |
| Provenance | Not a fork · Organization account As of 1w · github_public_v1 | Not a fork · Organization account As of 1mo · github_public_v1 |
| OSV dependency advisories | Published findings As of 1mo · osv@v1 | No published findings from this source as of 2026-07-11 As of 1mo · osv@v1 |
| deps.dev advisories | Not queried deps.dev@v1 | Not queried deps.dev@v1 |
| OpenSSF Scorecard | Not queried openssf-scorecard@v1 | Not queried openssf-scorecard@v1 |
Tagline
- ai-gateway
- Unified AI Gateway for multiple LLMs with caching, guardrails, A/B testing, and cost controls
- paddler
- Open-source LLM/VLM load balancer and serving platform for self-hosting at scale
Stars
- ai-gateway
- 219
- paddler
- 1.6k
Forks
- ai-gateway
- 33
- paddler
- 91
Open issues
- ai-gateway
- 63
- paddler
- 26
Language
- ai-gateway
- Go
- paddler
- Rust
Adopt for
- ai-gateway
- 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.
- paddler
- Paddler offers a streamlined approach to serve LLMs/VLMs with minimal setup complexity, focusing on scaling through simplicity.
Persona
- ai-gateway
- -
- paddler
- -
Runtime
- ai-gateway
- -
- paddler
- -
License
- ai-gateway
- Apache-2.0 - a permissive free software license
- paddler
- Apache-2.0
Last pushed
- ai-gateway
- Aug 7, 2026
- paddler
- Jul 19, 2026
Categories
- ai-gateway
- Inference & Serving, Model Training
- paddler
- Inference & Serving
Trust and health
Days since push
- ai-gateway
- 2d
- paddler
- 1d
Open issues (now)
- ai-gateway
- 63
- paddler
- 26
OSV dependency advisories
- ai-gateway
- Published findings
- paddler
- No published findings from this source as of 2026-07-11
Full report
- ai-gateway
- Trust report
- paddler
- Trust report
Choose ai-gateway if…
- ai-gateway is primarily Go; paddler 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 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
Choose paddler if…
- paddler is primarily Rust; ai-gateway is Go.
- Tags unique to paddler: ai, cpu, gpu, llamacpp.
- paddler ships Docker support for self-hosted deployment.
- Need a platform that simplifies deployments around the ggml ecosystem for self-hosting at scale
When NOT to use paddler
- Require extensive customization options in model serving infrastructure that Paddler's minimalistic design does not support
- Seek complex feature sets beyond simple scale-out capabilities, which might be found in more comprehensive platforms
Explore
Sources
Every stat on this page traces to a dated GitHub sync, license file, enrichment field, or trust scan.
- GitHub stars (ferro-labs/ai-gateway) · observed Aug 9, 2026
- GitHub forks (ferro-labs/ai-gateway) · observed Aug 9, 2026
- Last push (ferro-labs/ai-gateway) · observed Aug 7, 2026
- License file (Apache-2.0) · observed Aug 9, 2026
- Decision facts (enrichment) · observed Jul 17, 2026
- Trust scan (lockfile / OSV) · observed Jul 15, 2026
- GitHub stars (intentee/paddler) · observed Jul 21, 2026
- GitHub forks (intentee/paddler) · observed Jul 21, 2026
- Last push (intentee/paddler) · observed Jul 19, 2026
- License file (Apache-2.0) · observed Jul 21, 2026
- Decision facts (enrichment) · observed Jul 12, 2026
- Trust scan (lockfile / OSV) · observed Jul 11, 2026
GitHub stars on cards: ai-gateway 219 · paddler 1.6k (synced Aug 9, 2026).
Common questions
- What is the difference between ai-gateway and paddler?
- ai-gateway: Unified AI Gateway for multiple LLMs with caching, guardrails, A/B testing, and cost controls. paddler: Open-source LLM/VLM load balancer and serving platform for self-hosting at scale. See the comparison table for live GitHub stats and shared categories.
- When should I choose ai-gateway over paddler?
- Choose ai-gateway over paddler when ai-gateway is primarily Go; paddler 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 choose paddler over ai-gateway?
- Choose paddler over ai-gateway when paddler is primarily Rust; ai-gateway is Go; Tags unique to paddler: ai, cpu, gpu, llamacpp; paddler ships Docker support for self-hosted deployment; Need a platform that simplifies deployments around the ggml ecosystem for self-hosting at scale.
- 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
- When should I avoid paddler?
- Require extensive customization options in model serving infrastructure that Paddler's minimalistic design does not support Seek complex feature sets beyond simple scale-out capabilities, which might be found in more comprehensive platforms
- Is ai-gateway or paddler more popular on GitHub?
- paddler has more GitHub stars (1,642 vs 219). Stars measure visibility, not whether either tool fits your constraints.
- Are ai-gateway and paddler open source?
- Yes - both are open-source projects on GitHub (ai-gateway: Apache-2.0, paddler: Apache-2.0).
- Where can I find alternatives to ai-gateway or paddler?
- GraphCanon lists graph-backed alternatives at ai-gateway alternatives and paddler alternatives (ai-gateway markdown twin, paddler markdown twin), 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 mirrors this page for agents and LLM crawlers, with the same stats table and FAQ answers.
- Which is better maintained, ai-gateway or paddler?
- ai-gateway: Very active. paddler: 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 ai-gateway and paddler?
- GraphCanon publishes per-repo trust reports with dated maintenance, provenance, and scan summaries: ai-gateway trust report; paddler trust report.