--- title: "ai-gateway vs aikit" type: "comparison" canonical_url: "https://www.graphcanon.com/compare/ferro-labs-ai-gateway-vs-kaito-project-aikit" tools: ["ferro-labs-ai-gateway", "kaito-project-aikit"] --- # ai-gateway vs aikit *GraphCanon updated Aug 24, 2026* ## 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 aikit if aikit is a toolkit designed for fine-tuning, building and deploying large language models (LLMs) with an emphasis on open-source technologies. [ai-gateway](https://docs.ferrolabs.ai) reports 219 GitHub stars, 33 forks, and 63 open issues, last pushed Aug 7, 2026. [aikit](https://kaito-project.github.io/aikit/) has 537 stars, 57 forks, and 40 open issues, last pushed Aug 24, 2026. Figures are from public GitHub metadata via [ai-gateway's repository](https://github.com/ferro-labs/ai-gateway) and [aikit's repository](https://github.com/kaito-project/aikit). | | [ai-gateway](/tools/ferro-labs-ai-gateway.md) | [aikit](/tools/kaito-project-aikit.md) | | --- | --- | --- | | Tagline | Unified AI Gateway for multiple LLMs with caching, guardrails, A/B testing, and cost controls | Fine-tune, build, and deploy open-source LLMs easily! | | Stars | 219 | 537 | | Forks | 33 | 57 | | Open issues | 63 | 40 | | Language | Go | Go | | 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. | Aikit is a toolkit designed for fine-tuning, building and deploying large language models (LLMs) with an emphasis on open-source technologies. | | Persona | - | - | | Runtime | - | - | | License | Apache-2.0 - a permissive free software license | MIT | | Categories | Inference & Serving, Model Training | Inference & Serving, LLM Frameworks, Model Training | ## Trust and health _Sourced signals - not a safety guarantee. No winner column._ | | [ai-gateway](/tools/ferro-labs-ai-gateway.md) | [aikit](/tools/kaito-project-aikit.md) | | --- | --- | --- | | Days since push | 2d | 0d | | Open issues (now) | 63 | 40 | | Stars delta | Unknown | +3 (30d) | | Open issues delta | Unknown | -3 (30d) | | Full report | [trust report](/tools/ferro-labs-ai-gateway/trust.md) | [trust report](/tools/kaito-project-aikit/trust.md) | ## 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 ## Decision facts: aikit - **Adopt for:** Aikit is a toolkit designed for fine-tuning, building and deploying large language models (LLMs) with an emphasis on open-source technologies. ## Choose when ### Choose ai-gateway if… - License: ai-gateway is Apache-2.0, aikit is MIT. - Tags unique to ai-gateway: ai-gateway, litellm, llm-cost, llm-proxy. - When you need to integrate more than 30 different LLM services including OpenAI and Anthropic ### Choose aikit if… - License: aikit is MIT, ai-gateway is Apache-2.0. - Tags unique to aikit: ai, buildkit, chatgpt, docker. - Also covers LLM Frameworks. - aikit ships Docker support for self-hosted deployment. - - You need a flexible solution specifically built using Go and prefer its concurrency model. ## 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 ## When NOT to use aikit - - You have a preference or requirement for Python-based tools due to the lack of native support in Aikit. - - If your deployment setup strictly uses cloud-specific platforms and you do not use Kubernetes or Docker, as Aikit heavily integrates with containerized environments like these. ## Common questions ### What is the difference between ai-gateway and aikit? ai-gateway: Unified AI Gateway for multiple LLMs with caching, guardrails, A/B testing, and cost controls. aikit: Fine-tune, build, and deploy open-source LLMs easily!. See the comparison table for live GitHub stats and shared categories. ### When should I choose ai-gateway over aikit? Choose ai-gateway over aikit when License: ai-gateway is Apache-2.0, aikit is MIT; Tags unique to ai-gateway: ai-gateway, litellm, llm-cost, llm-proxy; When you need to integrate more than 30 different LLM services including OpenAI and Anthropic. ### When should I choose aikit over ai-gateway? Choose aikit over ai-gateway when License: aikit is MIT, ai-gateway is Apache-2.0; Tags unique to aikit: ai, buildkit, chatgpt, docker; Also covers LLM Frameworks; aikit ships Docker support for self-hosted deployment; - You need a flexible solution specifically built using Go and prefer its concurrency model. ### 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 aikit? - You have a preference or requirement for Python-based tools due to the lack of native support in Aikit. - If your deployment setup strictly uses cloud-specific platforms and you do not use Kubernetes or Docker, as Aikit heavily integrates with containerized environments like these. ### Is ai-gateway or aikit more popular on GitHub? aikit has more GitHub stars (537 vs 219). Stars measure visibility, not whether either tool fits your constraints. ### Are ai-gateway and aikit open source? Yes - both are open-source projects on GitHub (ai-gateway: Apache-2.0, aikit: MIT). ### Where can I find alternatives to ai-gateway or aikit? GraphCanon lists graph-backed alternatives at [ai-gateway alternatives](/tools/ferro-labs-ai-gateway/alternatives) and [aikit alternatives](/tools/kaito-project-aikit/alternatives) ([ai-gateway markdown twin](/tools/ferro-labs-ai-gateway/alternatives.md), [aikit markdown twin](/tools/kaito-project-aikit/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/ferro-labs-ai-gateway-vs-kaito-project-aikit.md) mirrors this page for agents and LLM crawlers, with the same stats table and FAQ answers. ### Which is better maintained, ai-gateway or aikit? ai-gateway: Very active. aikit: 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 aikit? GraphCanon publishes per-repo trust reports with dated maintenance, provenance, and scan summaries: [ai-gateway trust report](/tools/ferro-labs-ai-gateway/trust); [aikit trust report](/tools/kaito-project-aikit/trust). --- **Machine-readable endpoints** - JSON: [`/api/graphcanon/graph?tool=ferro-labs-ai-gateway`](/api/graphcanon/graph?tool=ferro-labs-ai-gateway) - 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/_