--- title: "ai-gateway vs vllm-mlx" type: "comparison" canonical_url: "https://www.graphcanon.com/compare/ferro-labs-ai-gateway-vs-waybarrios-vllm-mlx" tools: ["ferro-labs-ai-gateway", "waybarrios-vllm-mlx"] --- # ai-gateway vs vllm-mlx *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 vllm-mlx if vllm-mlx is an open-source inference server that runs large language models and vision-language models on Apple Silicon devices with continuous batching and multimodal support using. [ai-gateway](https://docs.ferrolabs.ai) reports 219 GitHub stars, 33 forks, and 63 open issues, last pushed Aug 7, 2026. [vllm-mlx](https://github.com/waybarrios/vllm-mlx) has 1.5k stars, 205 forks, and 86 open issues, last pushed Jun 28, 2026. Figures are from public GitHub metadata via [ai-gateway's repository](https://github.com/ferro-labs/ai-gateway) and [vllm-mlx's repository](https://github.com/waybarrios/vllm-mlx). | | [ai-gateway](/tools/ferro-labs-ai-gateway.md) | [vllm-mlx](/tools/waybarrios-vllm-mlx.md) | | --- | --- | --- | | Tagline | Unified AI Gateway for multiple LLMs with caching, guardrails, A/B testing, and cost controls | Server for LLMs and vision-language models compatible with Apple Silicon | | Stars | 219 | 1,472 | | Forks | 33 | 205 | | Open issues | 63 | 86 | | Language | Go | Python | | 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. | vllm-mlx is an open-source inference server that runs large language models and vision-language models on Apple Silicon devices with continuous batching and multimodal support using native MLX backend. | | 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) | [vllm-mlx](/tools/waybarrios-vllm-mlx.md) | | --- | --- | --- | | Maintenance | Very active (96%) | Steady (60%) | | Days since push | 2d | 31d | | Open issues (now) | 63 | 86 | | Owner type | Organization | User | | Full report | [trust report](/tools/ferro-labs-ai-gateway/trust.md) | [trust report](/tools/waybarrios-vllm-mlx/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: vllm-mlx - **Adopt for:** vllm-mlx is an open-source inference server that runs large language models and vision-language models on Apple Silicon devices with continuous batching and multimodal support using native MLX backend. ## Choose when ### Choose ai-gateway if… - ai-gateway is primarily Go; vllm-mlx is Python. - 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 vllm-mlx if… - vllm-mlx is primarily Python; ai-gateway is Go. - Tags unique to vllm-mlx: anthropic, apple-silicon, audio-processing, claude-code. - If you need to run LLMs or vision-language models like Llama, Qwen-VL, and LLaVA efficiently on Apple Silicon devices. ## 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 vllm-mlx - If your target environment is not an Apple device equipped with the required hardware to run models via MLX backend. - When seeking a solution that offers high-speed token throughput beyond 400 tok/s as vllm-mlx may not be adequate for such performance needs. ## Common questions ### What is the difference between ai-gateway and vllm-mlx? ai-gateway: Unified AI Gateway for multiple LLMs with caching, guardrails, A/B testing, and cost controls. vllm-mlx: Server for LLMs and vision-language models compatible with Apple Silicon. See the comparison table for live GitHub stats and shared categories. ### When should I choose ai-gateway over vllm-mlx? Choose ai-gateway over vllm-mlx when ai-gateway is primarily Go; vllm-mlx is Python; 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 vllm-mlx over ai-gateway? Choose vllm-mlx over ai-gateway when vllm-mlx is primarily Python; ai-gateway is Go; Tags unique to vllm-mlx: anthropic, apple-silicon, audio-processing, claude-code; If you need to run LLMs or vision-language models like Llama, Qwen-VL, and LLaVA efficiently on Apple Silicon devices. ### 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 vllm-mlx? If your target environment is not an Apple device equipped with the required hardware to run models via MLX backend. When seeking a solution that offers high-speed token throughput beyond 400 tok/s as vllm-mlx may not be adequate for such performance needs. ### Is ai-gateway or vllm-mlx more popular on GitHub? vllm-mlx has more GitHub stars (1,472 vs 219). Stars measure visibility, not whether either tool fits your constraints. ### Are ai-gateway and vllm-mlx open source? Yes - both are open-source projects on GitHub (ai-gateway: Apache-2.0, vllm-mlx: Apache-2.0). ### Where can I find alternatives to ai-gateway or vllm-mlx? GraphCanon lists graph-backed alternatives at [ai-gateway alternatives](/tools/ferro-labs-ai-gateway/alternatives) and [vllm-mlx alternatives](/tools/waybarrios-vllm-mlx/alternatives) ([ai-gateway markdown twin](/tools/ferro-labs-ai-gateway/alternatives.md), [vllm-mlx markdown twin](/tools/waybarrios-vllm-mlx/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-waybarrios-vllm-mlx.md) mirrors this page for agents and LLM crawlers, with the same stats table and FAQ answers. ### Which is better maintained, ai-gateway or vllm-mlx? ai-gateway: Very active. vllm-mlx: Steady. 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 vllm-mlx? GraphCanon publishes per-repo trust reports with dated maintenance, provenance, and scan summaries: [ai-gateway trust report](/tools/ferro-labs-ai-gateway/trust); [vllm-mlx trust report](/tools/waybarrios-vllm-mlx/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/_