OpenAI compatible API · Attested · Public status

Best LLM Router 2026: AI Gateways & Model Routers Compared

Compare the best LLM routers and AI gateways of 2026. OpenRouter, LiteLLM, Portkey, Requesty, and the one gateway whose privacy you can verify live.

Verify gateway

Onebase URL to migrate

100sof models and routes

Noneprompt logs by default

Best LLM router · AI gateway comparison · 2026

The best LLM router is the one whose privacy claims you can verify with a curl command.

Every router in this comparison does the basics well: one API, many models, failover when a provider drops. OpenRouter popularized the aggregator approach and has a very large catalog. LiteLLM is an open-source proxy you can self-host. Portkey builds deep observability. Requesty optimizes spend. They differ most on one dimension: what happens to your prompt inside the gateway.

TrustedRouter is an OpenAI-compatible AI gateway with 220+ model routes across 30+ providers, including Claude, GPT, Gemini, DeepSeek, Kimi, GLM, and Qwen 3.5. The prompt path runs inside a hardware-attested confidential-compute enclave: the source is open, the image digest is published, and the attestation is checkable live against the running gateway. TrustedRouter does not store prompt or output content by default.

Open the playground Verify the gateway

Switch in one linePython

from openai import OpenAI

client = OpenAI(
    base_url="https://api.trustedrouter.com/v1",
    api_key=TR_KEY,
)

reply = client.chat.completions.create(
    model="trustedrouter/auto",
    messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Pick the best route for this."}],
)

Routing

Meta-routes do the picking

Send trustedrouter/auto and the gateway picks the best fit per request. trustedrouter/cheap finds the cheapest capable route and still runs it in a TEE. trustedrouter/synth fuses a panel of open models and beats single frontier models on published evals.

Reliability

Failover, with numbers

Automatic provider fallback keeps requests flowing when a provider goes down. Measured latency comes from real routed requests and is published at the latency benchmarks page, so you can check the numbers before you commit.

Payments

Credits, BYOK, or a wallet

Prepaid credits through Stripe, bring-your-own provider keys, or x402 pay-per-request with Continue with MetaMask sign-in that works without a traditional account. Per-model pricing is transparent, with a thin markup over provider list prices.

Their strengthTrustedRouter

OpenRouterVery large public catalog, big community, quick start.220+ model routes across 30+ providers, with an attested prompt path; switching is a base_url change (see the OpenRouter comparison).

LiteLLMOpen-source proxy you self-host and fully control.Also open source, plus a published image digest that proves what is running in production.

PortkeyDeep observability, logging, and guardrails tooling.No stored prompt or output content by default; you verify the runtime rather than log through it.

RequestyCost-aware routing and spend controls.trustedrouter/cheap picks the cheapest capable route and executes it inside a TEE.

All of themOne API across many model providers.The same, plus a privacy tier on every route: Open, Zero-Data-Retention, or TEE.

The verification test

Attestation beats a privacy policy.

Any gateway can publish a policy document. TrustedRouter answers a curl with a JWT signed by the CPU vendor's root key, bound to the live TLS session, with an image digest you can match against the published open-source artifact. Your compliance team can run that check before the first prompt flows, and your CI can run it every day after.

One proof point, anonymized: a document-processing company scaled from zero to over a billion tokens per week through the attested gateway within three weeks of onboarding. Compare smart, cheap, and fast routes at the model chooser, read the OpenRouter deep-dive, or see how end-to-end confidential compute works.

Questions

What is the best LLM router in 2026?

It depends on what you optimize for. OpenRouter, LiteLLM, Portkey, and Requesty all route one API across many providers, and each has real strengths. TrustedRouter differs on the prompt path: it runs inside a hardware-attested confidential-compute gateway with open source, a published image digest, and a live attestation check. TrustedRouter does not store prompt or output content by default, and it serves 220+ model routes across 30+ providers.

What is the difference between an LLM router and an AI gateway?

An LLM router picks which model serves each request. An AI gateway is the layer between your app and providers that handles authentication, fallback, and billing. TrustedRouter is both: meta-routes like trustedrouter/auto, trustedrouter/cheap, and trustedrouter/fast pick the model, while the gateway handles automatic provider fallback, prepaid credits, BYOK, and a privacy tier on every route: Open, Zero-Data-Retention, or TEE.

Do I have to rewrite my code to switch LLM routers?

No. TrustedRouter is OpenAI-compatible: change base_url to https://api.trustedrouter.com/v1 and keep your SDK, your model ids, and your code. If you are moving from OpenRouter, the migration is that base_url swap, and the playground at /chat lets you test routes before you move production traffic.

Can an AI gateway be private enough for regulated data?

TrustedRouter's TEE tier runs prompts end-to-end inside confidential compute, so even the serving provider cannot read them, and the attestation is checkable live and bound to the TLS session. TrustedRouter does not store prompt or output content by default. For compliance review there is a verifiable architecture plus SOC 2 and HIPAA readiness documentation, a DPA, and a BAA; these are readiness documents rather than certifications, so your team can assess them directly.