--- title: "ai-gateway vs gateway" type: "comparison" canonical_url: "https://www.graphcanon.com/compare/ferro-labs-ai-gateway-vs-missingstudio-gateway" tools: ["ferro-labs-ai-gateway", "missingstudio-gateway"] --- # ai-gateway vs gateway *GraphCanon updated Aug 9, 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 gateway if aI Gateway offers a comprehensive infrastructure for deploying and managing production-grade AI apps with GRPC, protobuf, and support for large language models. [ai-gateway](https://docs.ferrolabs.ai) reports 219 GitHub stars, 33 forks, and 63 open issues, last pushed Aug 7, 2026. [gateway](https://www.missing.studio) has 160 stars, 17 forks, and 10 open issues, last pushed Apr 8, 2024. Figures are from public GitHub metadata via [ai-gateway's repository](https://github.com/ferro-labs/ai-gateway) and [gateway's repository](https://github.com/missingstudio/gateway). | | [ai-gateway](/tools/ferro-labs-ai-gateway.md) | [gateway](/tools/missingstudio-gateway.md) | | --- | --- | --- | | Tagline | Unified AI Gateway for multiple LLMs with caching, guardrails, A/B testing, and cost controls | Core infrastructure stack for building production-ready AI Applications | | Stars | 219 | 160 | | Forks | 33 | 17 | | Open issues | 63 | 10 | | 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. | AI Gateway offers a comprehensive infrastructure for deploying and managing production-grade AI apps with GRPC, protobuf, and support for large language models. | | Persona | - | - | | Runtime | - | - | | License | Apache-2.0 - a permissive free software license | Apache-2.0 | | Categories | Inference & Serving, Model Training | Inference & Serving, Model Training | ## Trust and health _Sourced signals - not a safety guarantee. No winner column._ | | [ai-gateway](/tools/ferro-labs-ai-gateway.md) | [gateway](/tools/missingstudio-gateway.md) | | --- | --- | --- | | Maintenance | Very active (96%) | Dormant (18%) | | Days since push | 2d | 846d | | Open issues (now) | 63 | 10 | | Full report | [trust report](/tools/ferro-labs-ai-gateway/trust.md) | [trust report](/tools/missingstudio-gateway/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: gateway - **Adopt for:** AI Gateway offers a comprehensive infrastructure for deploying and managing production-grade AI apps with GRPC, protobuf, and support for large language models. ## Choose when ### Choose ai-gateway if… - Tags unique to ai-gateway: litellm, llm-cost, llm-proxy, openai-compatible. - When you need to integrate more than 30 different LLM services including OpenAI and Anthropic - More GitHub stars (219 vs 160) - visibility, not fit. ### Choose gateway if… - Tags unique to gateway: grpc, inference, llmops, production-ready. - gateway ships Docker support for self-hosted deployment. - Use when you need to deploy applications that require low-latency communication like gRPC services. ## 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 gateway - Avoid if the project does not involve production-grade AI application deployment or specific needs of grpc and protobuf technologies. - Not suitable for teams preferring other programming languages over Go, as this tool is written entirely in Go. ## Common questions ### What is the difference between ai-gateway and gateway? ai-gateway: Unified AI Gateway for multiple LLMs with caching, guardrails, A/B testing, and cost controls. gateway: Core infrastructure stack for building production-ready AI Applications. See the comparison table for live GitHub stats and shared categories. ### When should I choose ai-gateway over gateway? Choose ai-gateway over gateway when Tags unique to ai-gateway: litellm, llm-cost, llm-proxy, openai-compatible; When you need to integrate more than 30 different LLM services including OpenAI and Anthropic; More GitHub stars (219 vs 160) - visibility, not fit. ### When should I choose gateway over ai-gateway? Choose gateway over ai-gateway when Tags unique to gateway: grpc, inference, llmops, production-ready; gateway ships Docker support for self-hosted deployment; Use when you need to deploy applications that require low-latency communication like gRPC services. ### 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 gateway? Avoid if the project does not involve production-grade AI application deployment or specific needs of grpc and protobuf technologies. Not suitable for teams preferring other programming languages over Go, as this tool is written entirely in Go. ### Is ai-gateway or gateway more popular on GitHub? ai-gateway has more GitHub stars (219 vs 160). Stars measure visibility, not whether either tool fits your constraints. ### Are ai-gateway and gateway open source? Yes - both are open-source projects on GitHub (ai-gateway: Apache-2.0, gateway: Apache-2.0). ### Where can I find alternatives to ai-gateway or gateway? GraphCanon lists graph-backed alternatives at [ai-gateway alternatives](/tools/ferro-labs-ai-gateway/alternatives) and [gateway alternatives](/tools/missingstudio-gateway/alternatives) ([ai-gateway markdown twin](/tools/ferro-labs-ai-gateway/alternatives.md), [gateway markdown twin](/tools/missingstudio-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/ferro-labs-ai-gateway-vs-missingstudio-gateway.md) mirrors this page for agents and LLM crawlers, with the same stats table and FAQ answers. ### Which is better maintained, ai-gateway or gateway? ai-gateway: Very active. gateway: 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 ai-gateway and gateway? GraphCanon publishes per-repo trust reports with dated maintenance, provenance, and scan summaries: [ai-gateway trust report](/tools/ferro-labs-ai-gateway/trust); [gateway trust report](/tools/missingstudio-gateway/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/_