AetherGate vs LLM Gateway: features, pricing and which is better in 2026
LLM Gateway (llmgateway.io) is a prominent open-source and hosted AI gateway that routes across 250+ models and 40+ providers with zero platform fee on Bring-Your-Own-Key (BYOK) usage and a 5% fee on hosted credit top-ups. AetherGate is built around the same developer-first philosophy—unified OpenAI-compatible routing, AES-256-GCM encrypted BYOK vault, and per-request cost tracking—while including PII/secret redaction guardrails and interactive failover trace diagnostics directly in the standard workspace without requiring an Enterprise pilot.
Executive Verdict: Which Should You Choose in 2026?
Choose LLM Gateway if you need their broader 250+ model marketplace, hosted credit purchasing, DevPass flat-rate coding plans, or a contractual 99.9% SLA on Enterprise Cloud. Choose AetherGate if you want a streamlined, self-contained Postgres-backed gateway with built-in PII redaction guardrails on every tier, visual failover attempt traces in the Playground, and zero-markup BYOK key encryption out of the box.
When to Choose AetherGate
- You want built-in regex PII/secret redaction (emails, cards, API keys) included without upgrading to an Enterprise tier.
- You want an interactive Playground that visualizes every failover step and upstream HTTP payload in real time.
- You prefer a lightweight Next.js + PostgreSQL stack you can inspect and deploy as a single unit.
When to Choose LLM Gateway
- You want to buy prepaid credits across 40+ providers with a single card (5% top-up fee) instead of managing individual provider BYOK keys.
- You need SOC 2 Type II attestation, SAML 2.0 / SCIM provisioning, and a 99.9% contractual uptime SLA.
- Your team uses LLM Gateway's adjacent products like DevPass or Lounge.
Side-by-Side Comparison: AetherGate vs LLM Gateway
Covering Pricing & Billing, Free Options, Routing Features, Speed, Model Accuracy, and Developer Usability.
| Category & Dimension | AetherGate | LLM Gateway | Advantage |
|---|---|---|---|
Base Pricing & Platform Fee Pricing & Billing | $9/mo Relay subscription + 0% token markup on BYOK | $0 Free plan; 5% fee on credit top-ups (+1.5% non-US cards) | Tie / Parity |
Bring Your Own Key (BYOK) Fee Pricing & Billing | 0% fee at all volumes (AES-256-GCM encrypted vault) | 0% fee at all volumes (verified llmgateway.io/pricing, Sep 2026) | Tie / Parity |
Free Option & Trial Free Option | Public demo plus paid BYOK plans starting at $9/month | Free forever tier + 3 rate-limited free models (20 req/min) | LLM Gateway |
PII & Secret Redaction Guardrails Features & Routing | Included on all routes (emails, credit cards, API secrets) | Gated to custom Enterprise plan | AetherGate |
Automatic Cross-Provider Failover Features & Routing | Included with per-step trace inspection & chaos testing toggle | Included on all plans (retries up to twice across providers) | Tie / Parity |
Payload & Log Retention Cost Pricing & Billing | Included in your PostgreSQL instance ($0 token surcharge) | 30 days metadata free; $0.01 per 1M tokens for full payload storage | AetherGate |
Proxy Speed & Latency Overhead Speed & Latency | Direct server-side fetch to upstream; TTFT & total ms logged per call | Managed global edge proxy (independent head-to-head latency untested) | Workload-Dependent |
Model Output Accuracy Accuracy & Quality | 100% passthrough of upstream provider model weights | 100% passthrough of upstream provider model weights | Tie / Parity |
Developer Usability & SDK Compatibility Usability & DX | OpenAI-compatible /api/v1/chat/completions + interactive Playground | OpenAI-compatible /v1 endpoint + Lounge chat + MCP server | Tie / Parity |
AetherGate vs LLM Gateway: security comparison
Standardized comparison of credential custody, encryption, guardrails, retention, access controls, private deployment and compliance claims. Security facts for LLM Gateway are based on public vendor documentation reviewed October 2026.
| Security dimension | AetherGate | LLM Gateway |
|---|---|---|
| Provider credentials | Provider API keys are encrypted before storage with AES-256-GCM and are not returned raw after storage. Application-facing gateway keys are stored as hashes and can be scoped with rate and spend controls. | Self-hosting can keep gateway credentials and configuration inside customer infrastructure; hosted-key implementation details are not fully described in the public sources reviewed. |
| Encryption | Provider credentials use application-level AES-256-GCM encryption before database storage. Production traffic is served over HTTPS by the hosting layer. | Self-host deployments can use cloud secret managers and customer-managed infrastructure controls; hosted encryption specifics were not clearly documented in the public pages reviewed. |
| PII / guardrails | Request previews are redacted for common PII and secret patterns before logging. The gateway also validates outbound provider targets and blocks private/internal destinations before dispatch. | Public materials emphasize self-hosting/data control more than a standardized built-in PII/prompt-injection security suite. |
| Retention / ZDR | AetherGate stores request telemetry for observability; it does not currently claim a universal zero-data-retention mode. Upstream provider retention remains governed by the connected provider account and contract. | Self-hosting gives the operator control of request retention and data residency. Hosted-service retention details should be verified against current policy. |
| Access / audit | Production sessions use HTTPOnly Secure cookies. Gateway keys can be revoked and constrained with rate/spend limits. Request and mission telemetry provide operational traces, but AetherGate does not claim a formal enterprise audit-log product today. | Deployment and access controls are largely determined by the self-hosted environment; a complete enterprise RBAC/audit matrix was not clearly documented in the public sources reviewed. |
| Deployment | Managed AetherGate control plane today. Provider inference is sent to the upstream providers configured by the customer. | Hosted cloud or self-hosted via Docker, Docker Compose, Kubernetes and major clouds. |
| Compliance | No SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA, FedRAMP or similar certification is claimed today. | Self-hosting can support regulated architectures, but the public sources reviewed do not establish a broad LLM Gateway certification claim. |
Self-hosting increases control but also moves patching, network hardening, backups, secret management and incident response to the operator.
AetherGate Pros & Cons
- +0% BYOK platform fee with AES-256-GCM server-side key encryption in PostgreSQL
- +PII & API secret redaction guardrails available on all plans, not gated behind Enterprise
- +Step-by-step failover trace inspector in the Playground and Request Logs
- +Zero charge for request metadata and prompt preview retention in your own database
- Requires bringing your own provider API keys (BYOK) for live upstream completions
- Focused curated catalog of flagship models rather than 250+ long-tail hosted models
- No SAML/SCIM enterprise identity provider integration built in
LLM Gateway Pros & Cons
- +250+ models across 40+ providers with live status and rankings directory
- +0% platform fee on BYOK at any volume; flat 5% fee on hosted credit top-ups
- +SOC 2 Type II certified with 30-day Enterprise production pilot option
- +Open-source core under AGPLv3 with Docker and Kubernetes Helm charts
- Guardrails (PII/prompt injection), audit logs, and SAML SSO require a custom Enterprise plan
- Full payload data retention adds $0.01 per 1M tokens on hosted plans
- Non-US credit cards may incur an additional 1.5% international card fee on credit top-ups
Frequently Asked Questions: AetherGate vs LLM Gateway
How does LLM Gateway pricing compare to AetherGate in 2026?
According to LLM Gateway's official pricing page (verified September 2026), both platforms charge 0% markup when you bring your own provider API keys (BYOK). LLM Gateway also offers hosted prepaid credits with a 5% top-up fee and charges $0.01 per 1M tokens for optional full payload retention, whereas AetherGate stores request logs directly in your PostgreSQL database with no token storage fee.
Are PII guardrails included for free in both platforms?
In AetherGate, pre-flight PII and secret redaction (masking emails, credit card numbers, and API keys before upstream dispatch) is built into the core gateway for all users. On LLM Gateway, Guardrails and Audit Logs are part of the custom-priced Enterprise tier.
Does switching between AetherGate and LLM Gateway change model accuracy?
No. Neither gateway alters model weights or token generation probabilities. Calling anthropic/claude-sonnet-5 or openai/gpt-5.6-sol through either gateway yields the exact same model accuracy as calling Anthropic or OpenAI directly.
Test AetherGate Side-by-Side with Your Own Provider Keys
Launch the interactive Control Plane, test PII guardrails and same-request failover in the Playground, or issue a scoped ag-live-... key in seconds.