Open-source alternatives guide · Updated 2026

Best open-source alternatives to Kong AI Gateway

Q: What are the best open-source alternatives to Kong AI Gateway?

OpenSourceChoice currently lists 6 projects with an explicit alternative relationship to Kong AI Gateway. Catalog highlights include LiteLLM, Portkey AI Gateway, and Bifrost. Rankings follow public GitHub stars and recorded momentum—not paid placement. Match capabilities and license fit to your workflow before adopting any option.

Q: Are open-source alternatives to Kong AI Gateway free?

Most catalogued alternatives publish source under OSI or source-available licenses and are free to inspect. Hosting, commercial support, or cloud model APIs may still cost money. Always read the project license for your use case.

Q: Can I self-host an alternative to Kong AI Gateway?

1 option in this list carry a self-hosting signal. Confirm the official install guide, backups, upgrades, and hardening steps before production.

Q: How should I evaluate Kong AI Gateway alternatives?

Map must-have Kong AI Gateway workflows, verify license and compliance fit, run a proof of concept with real data and integrations, then plan ownership for upgrades, backups, support, and an exit path.

Compare the best free and open-source alternatives to Kong AI Gateway — 6 verified projects with explicit catalog relationships. Inspect licenses, GitHub activity, self-hosting signals, and migration fit before you switch.

6verified alternatives
1self-hosted signals
1category

Only explicit alternative relationships are shown—never inferred competitor claims.

Overview

This guide compares 6 verified open-source alternatives to Kong AI Gateway, including LiteLLM, Portkey AI Gateway, Bifrost, and Envoy AI Gateway.

Projects appear mainly in AI & Machine Learning. 1 option includes a self-hosting signal — see the self-hosted catalog. Ranking follows public GitHub stars and recorded momentum—not vendor marketing. Compare projects side by side, then confirm license fit, migration effort, and operational ownership before adopting any option.

Strongest repository-activity signal: LiteLLM · Jump to ranking · 53.7K stars

About Kong AI Gateway

Proprietary product with documented open-source alternatives cataloged on OpenSourceChoice. Compare licenses, repository activity, and self-hosting options befo

Ranked open-source alternatives to Kong AI Gateway

Compare capabilities, licensing, and ownership model. Stars help with discovery; they are not a security or product-fit guarantee.

LiteLLM

Open-source alternative to Kong AI Gateway

AI & Machine LearningLicense not declaredAI-native

Python SDK, Proxy Server (AI Gateway) to call 100+ LLM APIs in OpenAI (or native) format, with cost tracking, guardrails, loadbalancing and logging. [Bedrock, Azure, OpenAI, VertexAI, Cohere, Anthropic, Sagemaker, Huggin

Python SDK, Proxy Server (AI Gateway) to call 100+ LLM APIs in OpenAI (or native) format, with cost tracking, guardrails, loadbalancing and logging. [Bedrock, Azure, OpenAI, Vertex

Best for: AI product teams
Deployment: Inspectable source
License: License not declared
Activity: Updated 26 hours ago

Key capabilities

llm

rust

openai

anthropic

Portkey AI Gateway

Open-source alternative to Kong AI Gateway

AI & Machine LearningMITAI-native

A blazing fast AI Gateway with integrated guardrails. Route to 1,600+ LLMs, 50+ AI Guardrails with 1 fast & friendly API.

A blazing fast AI Gateway with integrated guardrails. Route to 1,600+ LLMs, 50+ AI Guardrails with 1 fast & friendly API. Review the official repository, license, release activity,

Best for: AI product teams
Deployment: Inspectable source
License: MIT
Activity: Updated 2 months ago

Key capabilities

hacktoberfest

llm

mcp

openai

Bifrost

Open-source alternative to Kong AI Gateway

AI & Machine LearningApache-2.0AI-native

Fastest enterprise AI gateway (50x faster than LiteLLM) with adaptive load balancer, cluster mode, guardrails, 1000+ models support & <100 µs overhead at 5k RPS.

Fastest enterprise AI gateway (50x faster than LiteLLM) with adaptive load balancer, cluster mode, guardrails, 1000+ models support & <100 µs overhead at 5k RPS. Review the officia

Best for: AI product teams
Deployment: Inspectable source
License: Apache-2.0
Activity: Updated 26 hours ago

Key capabilities

llm mcp-server llmops generative-ai

Envoy AI Gateway

Open-source alternative to Kong AI Gateway

AI & Machine LearningApache-2.0AI-native

Manages Unified Access to Generative AI Services built on Envoy Gateway

Manages Unified Access to Generative AI Services built on Envoy Gateway Review the official repository, license, release activity, and deployment documentation before production ad

Best for: AI product teams
Deployment: Inspectable source
License: Apache-2.0
Activity: Updated 29 hours ago

Key capabilities

llm

kubernetes ai-gateway

LLM Gateway

Open-source alternative to Kong AI Gateway

AI & Machine LearningLicense not declaredAI-native

Route, manage, and analyze your LLM requests across multiple providers with a unified API interface.

Route, manage, and analyze your LLM requests across multiple providers with a unified API interface. Review the official repository, license, release activity, and deployment docum

Best for: AI product teams
Deployment: Inspectable source
License: License not declared
Activity: Updated 26 hours ago

Key capabilities

typescript

llm

analytics

Grepture

Open-source alternative to Kong AI Gateway

AI & Machine LearningAGPL-3.0Self-hostedAI-native

Drop-in proxy for OpenAI, Anthropic, and other LLM APIs. Logging, PII redaction, prompt versioning, and evals out of the box.

Drop-in proxy for OpenAI, Anthropic, and other LLM APIs. Logging, PII redaction, prompt versioning, and evals out of the box. Review the official repository, license, release activ

Best for: AI product teams
Deployment: Self-hostable
License: AGPL-3.0
Activity: Updated Jun 26, 2026

Key capabilities

llmops ai-gateway llm-observability llm-gateway

How to choose a Kong AI Gateway alternative

Map must-have capabilitiesList the workflows in Kong AI Gateway you cannot drop during migration.

Verify the licenseConfirm it fits your use, distribution, and compliance model. Browse license briefs.

Run a proof of conceptTest real data, integrations, clients, and failure modes. Use Compare for side-by-side checks.

Plan ownershipAssess upgrades, backups, support, and an exit path. Read when self-hosting is worth it.

Frequently asked questions about Kong AI Gateway alternatives

What are the best open-source alternatives to Kong AI Gateway?

OpenSourceChoice currently lists 6 projects with an explicit alternative relationship to Kong AI Gateway. Catalog highlights include LiteLLM, Portkey AI Gateway, and Bifrost. Rankings follow public GitHub stars and recorded momentum—not paid placement. Match capabilities and license fit to your workflow before adopting any option.

Are open-source alternatives to Kong AI Gateway free?

Most catalogued alternatives publish source under OSI or source-available licenses and are free to inspect. Hosting, commercial support, or cloud model APIs may still cost money. Always read the project license for your use case.

Can I self-host an alternative to Kong AI Gateway?

1 option in this list carry a self-hosting signal. Confirm the official install guide, backups, upgrades, and hardening steps before production.

How should I evaluate Kong AI Gateway alternatives?

Map must-have Kong AI Gateway workflows, verify license and compliance fit, run a proof of concept with real data and integrations, then plan ownership for upgrades, backups, support, and an exit path.

Browse and filter the catalog

Narrow the same alternatives by search, license, tags, or self-hosting signals when you need a tighter shortlist.

LiteLLM

License not declared

Metrics syncing

Alternatives toKong AI Gateway +4

Portkey AI Gateway

MIT

A blazing fast AI Gateway with integrated guardrails. Route to 1,600+ LLMs, 50+ AI Guardrails with 1 fast & friendly API.

Metrics syncing

Alternatives toKong AI Gateway +3

Bifrost

Apache-2.0

Fastest enterprise AI gateway (50x faster than LiteLLM) with adaptive load balancer, cluster mode, guardrails, 1000+ models support & <100 µs overhead at 5k RPS.