Cloudflare AI Gateway vs Portkey
Agent-native side-by-side. Scores are curated estimates on a 0–10 scale. Lock-in: higher = worse. Prefer JTBD picks via /api/decide when choosing for a job.
| Dimension | Cloudflare AI Gateway | Portkey |
|---|---|---|
| Overall | 8.4 | 8.3 |
| Capability fit | 8.0 | 8.8 |
| Price / performance | 9.4 | 8.2 |
| Latency / reliability | 9.0 | 8.6 |
| Developer & agent DX | 8.2 | 9.0 |
| Privacy / data retention | 8.8 | 8.2 |
| Lock-in risk (higher = worse) | 4.0 | 5.0 |
| Maturity / track record | 8.4 | 8.2 |
| Pricing | As of 2026-09-14 (developers.cloudflare.com/ai-gateway/reference/pricing, updated 2026-05-19): Core gateway (analytics, caching, rate limiting, DLP profiles) free on all Cloudflare plans. Persistent logs: Workers Free 10… | As of 2026-09-14 (portkey.ai/pricing): Developer free forever (10k logs/mo, 3-day log / 30-day metrics retention). Production $49/mo (100k logs, +$9/100k overage, 30/90-day retention, guardrails, RBAC). Enterprise custom… |
| Tagline | Free edge gateway peer to Portkey/OpenRouter. Depot llm-ai-gateway pick stays Portkey for virtual… | Depot pick for production AI gateway (fallbacks, virtual keys, budgets). OpenRouter when you want a model… |
Cloudflare AI Gateway
Free edge gateway peer to Portkey/OpenRouter. Depot llm-ai-gateway pick stays Portkey for virtual keys/fallbacks/budgets; use CF AI Gateway when already on Workers and want $0 analytics+cache. Strengths: Free core multi-provider gateway on any CF account; Edge caching/rate limits + DLP/guardrails hooks; BYOK avoids the
Strengths
- Free core multi-provider gateway on any CF account
- Edge caching/rate limits + DLP/guardrails hooks
- BYOK avoids the 5% Unified Billing tax
Weaknesses
- Deeper virtual-key/budget/guardrail UX still trails Portkey
- Log retention tied to Workers plan limits
- Unified Billing 5% surcharge if you buy credits through CF
Portkey
Depot pick for production AI gateway (fallbacks, virtual keys, budgets). OpenRouter when you want a model catalog/router; Helicone for request-path cost traces; Prisma AIRS when already in Palo Alto estate. Strengths: Universal API + fallbacks/load-balance/retries; Obs + prompt mgmt + guardrails in one; OSS self-host o
Strengths
- Universal API + fallbacks/load-balance/retries
- Obs + prompt mgmt + guardrails in one
- OSS self-host option
Weaknesses
- Acqui/packaging drift into Prisma AIRS
- Not a model marketplace like OpenRouter
- Log caps on cheap tiers
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