LiteLLM vs One-API: Self-Hosted LLM API Gateway Comparison 2026

If your organization works with multiple LLM providers — OpenAI, Anthropic, Azure, Google, local models via Ollama — managing separate API keys, rate limits, and request formats quickly becomes a nightmare. An LLM API gateway solves this by presenting a single unified API endpoint that routes requests to any backend provider.

In this guide, we compare two of the most popular open-source LLM API gateways: LiteLLM and One-API. Both let you unify dozens of LLM providers behind a single OpenAI-compatible interface, but they differ significantly in architecture, feature set, and operational complexity.

LiteLLM Overview

LiteLLM is a Python-based LLM proxy and SDK that supports 100+ LLM providers. Created by BerriAI, it translates any provider’s API into the OpenAI format, making it a drop-in replacement for existing code.

Key stats:

• ⭐ 45,200+ GitHub stars
• 📅 Last updated: April 2026 (very active)
• 🐍 Python-based, also ships as a proxy server
• Supports OpenAI, Azure, Anthropic, Bedrock, Vertex AI, Cohere, HuggingFace, Ollama, vLLM, and 100+ more

LiteLLM is the Swiss Army knife of LLM routing — it handles the widest range of providers and offers cost tracking, load balancing, fallback routing, and guardrails.

One-API Overview

One-API is a Go-based LLM API management and distribution system. It was designed primarily as a key management and redistribution platform, letting organizations pool multiple provider keys and distribute them through a single endpoint.

Key stats:

• ⭐ 32,700+ GitHub stars
• 📅 Last updated: January 2026
• 🐹 Go-based, single binary deployment
• Supports OpenAI, Azure, Anthropic, Google Gemini, DeepSeek, and many Chinese LLM providers

One-API is lighter and simpler than LiteLLM, with a strong focus on key pooling, quota management, and usage tracking — making it popular in team and enterprise environments.

Feature Comparison

Deployment: Docker Compose

LiteLLM

LiteLLM requires a PostgreSQL database for persistent model and key management. Here’s a production-ready Docker Compose configuration:

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services:
  litellm:
    image: docker.litellm.ai/berriai/litellm:main-stable
    ports:
      - "4000:4000"
    environment:
      DATABASE_URL: "postgresql://llmproxy:securepass@db:5432/litellm"
      STORE_MODEL_IN_DB: "True"
    env_file:
      - .env
    depends_on:
      - db
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD-SHELL", "python3 -c \"import urllib.request; urllib.request.urlopen('http://localhost:4000/health/liveliness')\""]
      interval: 30s
      timeout: 10s
      retries: 3
      start_period: 40s

  db:
    image: postgres:16
    restart: always
    environment:
      POSTGRES_USER: llmproxy
      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: securepass
      POSTGRES_DB: litellm
    volumes:
      - pgdata:/var/lib/postgresql/data

volumes:
  pgdata:

Start the proxy with docker compose up -d and configure providers via the UI at http://localhost:4000/ui or by adding API keys to your .env file.

One-API

One-API is lighter — it ships as a single binary with built-in SQLite support, or you can connect it to MySQL for production:

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services:
  one-api:
    image: justsong/one-api:latest
    container_name: one-api
    restart: always
    ports:
      - "3000:3000"
    volumes:
      - ./data/oneapi:/data
      - ./logs:/app/logs
    environment:
      - SQL_DSN=oneapi:123456@tcp(db:3306)/one-api
      - SESSION_SECRET=replace-with-random-string
      - TZ=UTC
    depends_on:
      - db

  db:
    image: mysql:8
    restart: always
    environment:
      MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD: rootpass
      MYSQL_USER: oneapi
      MYSQL_PASSWORD: '123456'
      MYSQL_DATABASE: one-api
    volumes:
      - mysql_data:/var/lib/mysql

volumes:
  mysql_data:

One-API starts with a default admin account (root / 123456) — change this immediately in production. The web dashboard at http://localhost:3000 lets you add provider keys, create user tokens, and set quotas.

Key Architectural Differences

The fundamental difference between these two tools lies in their design philosophy. LiteLLM is built as a feature-rich proxy that handles every aspect of LLM routing — from provider translation to cost optimization to content moderation. It maintains a comprehensive model registry, tracks spending across all providers, and can automatically fall back to alternative models when one fails.

One-API, by contrast, is built as a key management platform. Its core strength is pooling API keys from multiple providers and team members, distributing them through a unified endpoint with per-user quotas and spending limits. It doesn’t do automatic fallback or content moderation — but it excels at the organizational problem of “who has access to which models and how much can they spend?”

This distinction matters when choosing between them: if your team’s primary challenge is managing shared API keys and controlling costs across developers, One-API solves that directly. If you need intelligent routing, automatic failover, and content safety, LiteLLM is the better foundation.

LiteLLM Configuration Example

Here’s how to configure LiteLLM with multiple providers in a config.yaml file:

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model_list:
  - model_name: gpt-4
    litellm_params:
      model: openai/gpt-4
      api_key: os.environ/OPENAI_API_KEY
  - model_name: claude-3
    litellm_params:
      model: anthropic/claude-3-opus-20240229
      api_key: os.environ/ANTHROPIC_API_KEY
  - model_name: llama-3
    litellm_params:
      model: ollama/llama3
      api_base: http://localhost:11434

litellm_settings:
  drop_params: True
  max_budget: 100.0
  budget_duration: 30d

This config maps three different providers behind unified model names, so your application code only needs to reference gpt-4, claude-3, or llama-3 — the proxy handles the actual routing.

When to Choose LiteLLM

• You need maximum provider coverage — 100+ providers including Bedrock, Vertex AI, and obscure providers
• Automatic fallback is critical — LiteLLM can automatically retry failed requests on a different provider
• You need guardrails — built-in prompt filtering, PII detection, and content moderation
• Python ecosystem integration — LiteLLM doubles as a Python SDK you can import directly into your code

When to Choose One-API

• You need a lightweight, single-binary deployment — Go-based, ~30MB, no Python dependencies
• Key pooling and quota management is your primary need — One-API excels at distributing pooled keys across team members with per-user quotas
• You serve Chinese LLM providers — DeepSeek, ChatGLM, Wenxin Yiyan, and other Chinese models have first-class support
• Simplicity over features — if you just need a unified API endpoint with basic key management, One-API is easier to set up

Internal Links and Related Reading

For a broader look at the self-hosted API management landscape, check out our API gateway comparison (APISIX vs Kong vs Tyk) and our guide to self-hosted secrets encryption (SOPS vs Git-Crypt vs Age). If you’re also evaluating model serving infrastructure, our BentoML vs Seldon Core vs Triton comparison covers the inference side of the stack.

FAQ

What is an LLM API gateway?

An LLM API gateway is a proxy server that sits between your application and multiple LLM providers. It translates requests from a standard format (usually OpenAI’s API format) into whatever format each backend provider requires. This lets you switch providers, balance load across multiple keys, and track costs — all without changing your application code.

Can LiteLLM and One-API both replace the OpenAI SDK?

Yes. Both tools provide an OpenAI-compatible API endpoint, so you can point any OpenAI SDK-compatible client (the official openai Python/JS libraries, LangChain, LlamaIndex, etc.) to your self-hosted gateway URL instead of api.openai.com. The gateway handles routing to the actual provider.

Does LiteLLM support local models like Ollama?

Yes. LiteLLM supports Ollama, vLLM, and any OpenAI-compatible local model server. You configure them as providers in the LiteLLM config, and they appear alongside cloud providers in your unified API.

Is One-API suitable for production use?

One-API is used in production by many organizations, particularly in Asia where its Chinese provider support is valuable. However, it has fewer enterprise features than LiteLLM — no automatic fallback, no guardrails, and no webhook integrations. For simple key pooling and quota management, it’s production-ready. For advanced routing logic, LiteLLM is the better choice.

Which one is easier to deploy?

One-API is simpler to deploy — it’s a single Go binary with optional MySQL, and the web dashboard works out of the box. LiteLLM requires PostgreSQL and has more configuration options, but the Docker Compose setup in this guide gets you running in minutes.

Can I use both LiteLLM and One-API together?

Yes. Some organizations use One-API for key management and quota enforcement, then route through LiteLLM for advanced features like fallback routing and guardrails. However, this adds latency and complexity. In most cases, choosing one gateway that meets your needs is sufficient.