inference-gateway vs otari
Self-hosted LLM gateways compared
inference-gateway and otari both provide a shared, OpenAI-compatible endpoint for routing requests to LLM providers. inference-gateway emphasizes integrations such as MCP, A2A, guardrails and telemetry, while otari adds team-focused controls for keys, budgets, routing policies and usage tracking.
inference-gateway: Unify LLM Providers Behind One API
A Go-based, cloud-native gateway that puts multiple LLM providers behind one OpenAI-compatible API. It supports cloud and self-hosted models, with integrations for MCP, A2A, guardrails and OpenTelemetry.
otari: Run an OpenAI-Compatible LLM Gateway
Otari is Mozilla AI’s self-hostable LLM gateway, using any-llm to route OpenAI- and Anthropic-compatible requests to providers through one endpoint. It adds virtual keys, budgets, routing policies, and usage tracking for teams operating their own AI stack.
| inference-gateway | otari | |
|---|---|---|
| Language | Go | Python |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Stars | 215 | 660 |
| Forks | 48 | 83 |
| Last analyzed | Oct 23, 2026 | Oct 19, 2026 |
Key differences
- inference-gateway is written in Go; otari is written in Python and requires Python 3.13 or newer for direct installation or development.
- inference-gateway routes to named providers including OpenAI, Anthropic, Ollama and DeepSeek; otari routes through any-llm to more than 40 providers.
- inference-gateway supports Kubernetes deployment and has a Kubernetes operator; otari offers Docker and Compose deployment paths and does not list a Helm chart.
- otari provides revocable keys scoped to users, workspaces and models, budget checks, usage records and a dashboard; inference-gateway offers OIDC authentication, authorization and OPA/Rego guardrails.
- inference-gateway includes an A2A server and OpenTelemetry metrics; otari supports routing policies for failover, weighting and learned selection.
- Both use the Apache-2.0 license and are unarchived; otari has more stars and forks in the supplied figures, while inference-gateway's documented Go runtime is version 1.26.8.
Choose inference-gateway if you…
- need MCP or A2A integrations, or OpenTelemetry metrics in a shared gateway.
- want to deploy a Go-based gateway in Kubernetes, including with its operator.
- need OIDC authentication or OPA/Rego guardrails in front of model requests.
Choose otari if you…
- need virtual keys, budget enforcement and usage tracking for a team.
- want routing policies for failover, weighting or learned selection across providers.
- want a dashboard to manage providers, models, keys, members and budgets.
Compare the numbers side by side, or add more projects
This comparison is generated with AI from the OSRepos analyses of both projects. Always check each project's repository and documentation before choosing.