--- title: "ai-gateway vs openinfer" type: "comparison" canonical_url: "https://www.graphcanon.com/compare/ferro-labs-ai-gateway-vs-openinfer-project-openinfer" tools: ["ferro-labs-ai-gateway", "openinfer-project-openinfer"] --- # ai-gateway vs openinfer *GraphCanon updated Aug 25, 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 openinfer if high-performance GPU-based inference engine for Rust developers targeting Qwen3 and Kimi-K2 using pure CUDA kernels. [ai-gateway](https://docs.ferrolabs.ai) reports 219 GitHub stars, 33 forks, and 63 open issues, last pushed Aug 7, 2026. [openinfer](https://pegainfer.org/) has 657 stars, 103 forks, and 102 open issues, last pushed Aug 25, 2026. Figures are from public GitHub metadata via [ai-gateway's repository](https://github.com/ferro-labs/ai-gateway) and [openinfer's repository](https://github.com/openinfer-project/openinfer). | | [ai-gateway](/tools/ferro-labs-ai-gateway.md) | [openinfer](/tools/openinfer-project-openinfer.md) | | --- | --- | --- | | Tagline | Unified AI Gateway for multiple LLMs with caching, guardrails, A/B testing, and cost controls | Pure Rust CUDA LLM inference engine serving multiple models including Qwen3 and Kimi-K2 | | Stars | 219 | 657 | | Forks | 33 | 103 | | Open issues | 63 | 102 | | Language | Go | Rust | | 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. | high-performance GPU-based inference engine for Rust developers targeting Qwen3 and Kimi-K2 using pure CUDA kernels | | Persona | - | - | | Runtime | - | - | | License | Apache-2.0 - a permissive free software license | Apache-2.0 | | Categories | Inference & Serving, Model Training | Inference & Serving | ## Trust and health _Sourced signals - not a safety guarantee. No winner column._ | | [ai-gateway](/tools/ferro-labs-ai-gateway.md) | [openinfer](/tools/openinfer-project-openinfer.md) | | --- | --- | --- | | Days since push | 2d | 0d | | Open issues (now) | 63 | 102 | | Stars delta | Unknown | +72 (30d) | | Open issues delta | Unknown | -26 (30d) | | Full report | [trust report](/tools/ferro-labs-ai-gateway/trust.md) | [trust report](/tools/openinfer-project-openinfer/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: openinfer - **Adopt for:** high-performance GPU-based inference engine for Rust developers targeting Qwen3 and Kimi-K2 using pure CUDA kernels ## Choose when ### Choose ai-gateway if… - ai-gateway is primarily Go; openinfer 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 ### Choose openinfer if… - openinfer is primarily Rust; ai-gateway is Go. - Tags unique to openinfer: cuda, gpu, llm-inference, openai-api. - When you are working with large language models Qwen3 and/or Kimi-K2 specifically, and want to avoid PyTorch dependencies. ## 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 openinfer - Avoid if you are developing models other than Qwen3 or Kimi-K2 as support for other models might be limited. - Not recommended for projects where PyTorch integration is crucial as this tool does not depend on it and may require changes in existing workflows. ## Common questions ### What is the difference between ai-gateway and openinfer? ai-gateway: Unified AI Gateway for multiple LLMs with caching, guardrails, A/B testing, and cost controls. openinfer: Pure Rust CUDA LLM inference engine serving multiple models including Qwen3 and Kimi-K2. See the comparison table for live GitHub stats and shared categories. ### When should I choose ai-gateway over openinfer? Choose ai-gateway over openinfer when ai-gateway is primarily Go; openinfer 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 openinfer over ai-gateway? Choose openinfer over ai-gateway when openinfer is primarily Rust; ai-gateway is Go; Tags unique to openinfer: cuda, gpu, llm-inference, openai-api; When you are working with large language models Qwen3 and/or Kimi-K2 specifically, and want to avoid PyTorch dependencies. ### 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 openinfer? Avoid if you are developing models other than Qwen3 or Kimi-K2 as support for other models might be limited. Not recommended for projects where PyTorch integration is crucial as this tool does not depend on it and may require changes in existing workflows. ### Is ai-gateway or openinfer more popular on GitHub? openinfer has more GitHub stars (657 vs 219). Stars measure visibility, not whether either tool fits your constraints. ### Are ai-gateway and openinfer open source? Yes - both are open-source projects on GitHub (ai-gateway: Apache-2.0, openinfer: Apache-2.0). ### Where can I find alternatives to ai-gateway or openinfer? GraphCanon lists graph-backed alternatives at [ai-gateway alternatives](/tools/ferro-labs-ai-gateway/alternatives) and [openinfer alternatives](/tools/openinfer-project-openinfer/alternatives) ([ai-gateway markdown twin](/tools/ferro-labs-ai-gateway/alternatives.md), [openinfer markdown twin](/tools/openinfer-project-openinfer/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-openinfer-project-openinfer.md) mirrors this page for agents and LLM crawlers, with the same stats table and FAQ answers. ### Which is better maintained, ai-gateway or openinfer? ai-gateway: Very active. openinfer: 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 openinfer? GraphCanon publishes per-repo trust reports with dated maintenance, provenance, and scan summaries: [ai-gateway trust report](/tools/ferro-labs-ai-gateway/trust); [openinfer trust report](/tools/openinfer-project-openinfer/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/_