Where does it run?
DVARA runs in your environment. Managed hosting is a separate option.
Confirm where requests are processed, stored and inspected.
Independent buyer's guide
Compare AI governance platforms and gateways
Start with your deployment boundary and the controls you must prove. Then compare products—not feature counts.
11 options5 buyer questionsDecision-led profiles
Before the shortlist
Start with five questions
These questions expose the important differences before a feature table hides them.
What is its main job?
Govern model, tool and agent traffic under one control plane.
Many alternatives lead with routing, observability or a cloud platform.
Can it govern tools and agents?
Enterprise adds MCP and A2A policy, PII checks, approvals and evidence.
Check the exact transport, identity and approval behavior you need.
Who operates it?
Choose Open Source, customer-operated Enterprise or managed hosting.
Managed services reduce operations; self-hosting gives you more control.
What must you prove?
DVARA records tamper-evident evidence for governed decisions.
Separate traffic logs from evidence that explains why a decision was made.
Build the shortlist
Where each option fits
Each card states the likely fit, a real strength and the question worth validating.
Operate it yourself4
Open-source and self-hosted gateways
Best when infrastructure control, extensibility and provider choice matter most.
Open-source gateway
LiteLLM
You want an open-source LLM gateway and a broad provider list.
Strong atOpenAI-compatible APIs, routing, fallbacks, budgets and an MCP gateway.
CheckWhich controls are in your edition, and who owns the policy and audit evidence?
Open-source gateway
Bifrost
You need a fast, self-hosted LLM gateway with MCP connectivity.
Strong atProvider routing, reliability, observability, governance controls and MCP tooling.
CheckVerify the policy, audit and approval controls required for your production use case.
MIT open source
OmniRoute
You want a local gateway for coding tools, free-tier discovery and quota-aware routing.
Strong atOne OpenAI-compatible endpoint, broad provider access, routing strategies, MCP/A2A and desktop or PWA use.
CheckValidate the security defaults, governance evidence, resource profile and provider quotas you depend on.
API gateway platform
Kong AI Gateway
You already run Kong and want AI traffic in the API gateway you operate.
Strong atAPI gateway policies, plugins, routing and enterprise identity integrations.
CheckMap the plugins and edition you need to model, MCP and agent workflows.
Buy the service5
Managed gateways and model APIs
Best when speed to adoption and lower operational effort matter most.
Managed or self-hosted
Portkey
You want a managed or self-hosted gateway with agent and MCP operations.
Strong atProvider routing, guardrails, budgets, traces, MCP registry and tool access controls.
CheckConfirm deployment, data location and which agent controls are generally available.
Managed or customer-operated platform
TrueFoundry
You want a broader AI platform with model, gateway, MCP and agent operations.
Strong atModel access, routing, virtual accounts, budgets, guardrails, traces, MCP and agent controls.
CheckCompare platform scope, policy lifecycle and the evidence-integrity mechanism your reviews require.
Managed edge service
Cloudflare AI Gateway
You want an edge-managed gateway with caching and provider resilience.
Strong atAnalytics, logs, caching, rate limits, retries and model fallback at the edge.
CheckValidate the Cloudflare service boundary and governance depth for regulated paths.
Hosted observability
Helicone
You mainly need hosted observability and gateway routing.
Strong atRequest visibility, spend and latency tracking, caching and routing options.
CheckConfirm which enforcement and tool-governance controls are available in your deployment.
Hosted model API
OpenRouter
You want a hosted API for trying models from many providers.
Strong atA simple hosted route to a large model catalogue.
CheckAssess whether you need customer-controlled governance, identity and evidence.
Extend your cloud platform2
Cloud-native AI platforms
Best when identity, data and operations already live in one cloud ecosystem.
Cloud-native platform
AWS Bedrock
Your models, identity and operations already live in AWS.
Strong atManaged model access, Bedrock Guardrails, Agents and AWS-native controls.
CheckCompare the AWS service boundary with the cross-provider and self-hosted controls you need.
Data and AI platform
Databricks Unity Gateway
Your AI assets and access model are already governed by Unity Catalog.
Strong atModel and MCP governance, rate limits, cost controls, usage records and service policies.
CheckService policies are currently a beta capability; confirm the rollout and Databricks dependency.
Descriptions are based on public documentation. Products, editions and quotas change; confirm current scope during procurement.
Test the control point
See DVARA on your own traffic
Start with the Open Source LLM Gateway, or walk through governed model, tool and agent traffic with the DVARA team.