When an LLM application starts handling real users, calling a model API is usually easy. The problems show up around it....

When an LLM application starts handling real users, calling a model API is usually easy. The problems show up around it. One provider hits a rate limit, another slows down, an endpoint goes down, retries drive up costs, or the application needs to switch models without rewriting half the codebase.This is where an LLM gateway becomes useful. It sits between your application and model providers, giving you a central place to manage routing, reliability, observability, and access. I compared five widely used options, LiteLLM, Kong AI Gateway, Portkey, Bifrost, and Apache APISIX, to see how their approaches differ when production concerns such as traffic management, latency, provider failures, and operational control start to matter. What Is an LLM Gateway?An LLM gateway is a software layer that sits between an application and one or more large language model providers.Think of it as a traffic controller for AI requests.Without a gateway, an application may need separate integrations for p...