LLMsRelay vs Portkey — Claude Gateway vs Enterprise AI Proxy [2026]
LLMsRelay (sells Claude API directly, billing 91% below Anthropic's official rates) vs Portkey (BYO-key enterprise gateway with observability). Differences, pricing, when to use each, and how to combine them.
LLMsRelay is an independently operated API gateway. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by Anthropic, PBC. Product and model names are used only to describe compatibility.
Quick Answer
LLMsRelay vs Portkey in one line: they solve different problems. LLMsRelay sellsClaude API access (you buy credits, get a key, use it). Portkey is a proxy/observability layer where you bring your own provider keys (Anthropic, OpenAI, etc.) and Portkey adds logging, fallbacks, and guardrails. They can be combined: use LLMsRelay as the Claude provider behind Portkey.
What each one actually is
LLMsRelay — a Claude-only API gateway. You sign up, pay $45 for 500 credits ($500 Anthropic-equivalent), get a key starting with sk-, and call Anthropic models through our endpoint. Request deductions are based 91% below Anthropic's official token rates. Native Anthropic API + OpenAI-compatible endpoint.
Portkey — an enterprise AI gateway. You bring your own Anthropic key (or OpenAI, Azure, etc.). Portkey sits in front of those keys and adds: request logging, semantic caching, fallback routing across providers, prompt versioning, guardrails, and team-level analytics. Pricing is subscription-based (per-request volume tiers).
Feature Comparison
| Feature | LLMsRelay | Portkey |
|---|---|---|
| Sells Claude API directly | Yes | No (BYO key) |
| Pricing model | Pay-per-token (~91% below Anthropic (11× cheaper) official pricing) | Subscription tiers |
| Observability dashboard | Basic (per-key usage) | Enterprise-grade |
| Multi-provider fallback | No (Claude only) | Yes |
| Semantic caching | Anthropic prompt caching | Cross-request semantic |
| Guardrails / PII redaction | No | Yes |
| RU payment (Mir/SBP) | Yes | No |
| Cursor / Claude Code | Native | Possible via custom endpoint |
When to use Portkey
- Enterprise team with 5+ engineers and compliance requirements
- Need multi-provider fallback — automatic failover from Claude to GPT-4 on rate limits
- Need guardrails and PII redaction on production prompts
- Want cross-request semantic caching beyond Anthropic's native prompt cache
When to use LLMsRelay
- Solo developer or small team using Claude in Cursor / Claude Code
- Need RU payment via Mir / SBP / Tribute
- Want predictable token billing at 91% below Anthropic's official pricing
- Building a Claude-only product and don't want enterprise gateway complexity
Combining LLMsRelay + Portkey
Enterprise teams that want both observability and LLMsRelay's billing model can stack them:
- Buy credits at LLMsRelay, generate a key
- In Portkey, add a custom OpenAI-compatible provider with base URL
https://api.llmsrelay.com/v1and the LLMsRelay key - Route Portkey virtual keys through this provider for Claude requests
- You get Portkey observability + LLMsRelay's Claude access and billing