Open Source
Vercel AI Gateway
by Vercel
A hosted gateway from Vercel that gives you one API key and one endpoint for hundreds of models, with OpenAI-compatible and Anthropic-compatible APIs, budgets, request logs and provider fallback. It is not open source.
Our verdict
A hosted gateway from Vercel that gives you one API key and one endpoint for hundreds of models, with OpenAI-compatible and Anthropic-compatible APIs, budgets, request logs and provider fallback. It is not open source.
Best for: Developers who want one account for many models at provider list prices, from any server or local machine, without running a gateway themselves.
Choose something else if: you need to self-host or keep traffic off a third-party service. It runs only on Vercel's infrastructure.
Source review
Using Vercel AI Gateway in practice
Where it runs
Hosted by Vercel. Requests pass through Vercel's gateway to the provider you choose. Vercel says the gateway itself keeps no prompt or response content, and each provider's own retention terms still apply.
How to install
Create an AI Gateway API key in your Vercel team and export it as AI_GATEWAY_API_KEY. Then point any OpenAI-compatible SDK at https://ai-gateway.vercel.sh/v1, or use the AI SDK.
Install commands
export AI_GATEWAY_API_KEY="your_ai_gateway_api_key"As published in the linked sources. Not run by us.
What it costs
Pay as you go at provider list prices with no token markup. Each team gets US$5 of free credit a month for free-tier models until it buys credits. Purchased credits expire a year after purchase.
Prices and plans change. Check the linked sources before committing.
Why consider it
- No markup or platform fee on tokens. You pay each provider's list price from prepaid credits.
- Your app does not need to run on Vercel. Any OpenAI-compatible client can point at it.
What to watch for
- The free US$5 monthly credit needs a payment method on file and covers only free-tier models, at lower rate limits.
- Using your own provider keys needs purchased credits. If a request with your key fails, it retries on Vercel's own accounts and charges your credits.
- Payment processing fees and optional add-ons, such as custom reporting and team-wide zero data retention, cost extra.
A first task to try
Create a key, send one request to a free-tier model with curl, then find that request, its tokens and its cost in the AI Gateway logs.
Suggested exercise, not an installation test. We reviewed the linked documentation; no host compatibility is implied.
Other options to understand
Related tools can solve different parts of the same job. Compare fit before treating them as replacements.
Key facts
What we have checked
Not checked yet. Dated facts such as prices, releases and repository activity appear here once we have confirmed them from a source.
Alternatives
Alternatives to Vercel AI Gateway
| Record | Type | How we know | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|
| LiteLLMThis is an alternative to it | Open source | Named in the listing | Not dated |
Compare
Compare Vercel AI Gateway side by side
Sources
Where this comes from
- AI Gateway documentationOur review
- Getting startedOur review
- PricingOur review
- Data retentionOur review
A source shows what was published when we checked it. It does not certify security, performance or a working installation. Read our method.
Changelog
What changed
No changes recorded yet. Releases, price changes and deprecations appear here, with their dates, once we track them for this record.
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