Bifrost

What is Bifrost?

Bifrost is an open-source AI gateway, built by Maxim, that sits between your application and model providers. It exposes one OpenAI-compatible API over 1,000+ models from 8+ providers, so you can change a single line in an existing SDK and keep your code. The gateway adds automatic fallbacks between providers, simple and semantic caching, custom routing rules, virtual keys with budgets and rate limits, built-in OpenTelemetry observability, and an MCP gateway with a Code Mode for centralizing tool access. Maxim reports about 20 microseconds of added latency and 5,000 requests per second, and claims it is faster than LiteLLM, which is vendor-reported. You can start it with npx, Docker, Kubernetes or a Go binary. The OSS edition is free forever and self-hosted. The Enterprise edition has custom pricing and adds guardrails, cluster mode, adaptive load balancing, SAML and OIDC single sign-on, vault support, audit logs and role-based access control, with a 14-day free trial.

Use cases

• Route requests across LLM providers
• Fail over when a provider goes down
• Cache similar requests semantically
• Set budgets with virtual keys
• Centralize MCP tool access for agents
• Monitor LLM traffic with OpenTelemetry

Who it's for

• AI platform engineers
• Backend developers
• Enterprise AI teams

Why use Bifrost

• Switching models or providers needs no application code changes thanks to the compatible API.
• Fallbacks keep an app running when one provider has problems.
• Virtual keys let you cap spend per team, project or use case.
• A single MCP gateway centralizes tool connections, auth and policy.
• The OSS edition costs nothing, with an Enterprise path when you need governance.

Bifrost features

• OpenAI-compatible API across 1,000+ models
• Automatic provider fallbacks
• Simple and semantic caching
• Virtual keys with budgets and rate limits
• Custom routing rules
• MCP gateway with Code Mode
• Built-in observability and OpenTelemetry metrics
• Prompt repository and playground
• Bifrost CLI and custom plugins
• Guardrails and cluster mode on Enterprise
• SAML and OIDC single sign-on on Enterprise

Bifrost integrations

• OpenAI
• Anthropic
• Vercel AI SDK
• LangChain
• LiteLLM
• Google GenAI
• HashiCorp Vault
• AWS Secrets Manager
• Slack
• PagerDuty

How to get started with Bifrost

1. Start Bifrost with npx @maximhq/bifrost, Docker, Kubernetes or the Go binary.
2. Add provider keys and set routing rules, caching and budgets.
3. Point your OpenAI, Anthropic or LangChain client at the Bifrost endpoint.
4. Monitor requests, costs and failovers in the built-in dashboard or OpenTelemetry.
5. Move to Enterprise for guardrails, clustering and SSO when needed.

Bifrost limitations

• OSS edition is self-managed with docs and community support
• Guardrails, clustering, SSO and audit logs are Enterprise features
• Performance and benchmark figures are vendor-reported
• Enterprise pricing is not published

Bifrost pricing

Bifrost is open source, so you can use and self-host it for free.

Bifrost plans

• OSS

  Free

  Free forever, self-hosted

  • OpenAI-compatible drop-in replacement
  • Automatic fallbacks
  • Simple and semantic caching
  • MCP gateway with Code Mode
  • Virtual keys with budgets

• Enterprise

  Custom

  14-day free trial

  • Guardrails
  • Cluster mode
  • SAML and OIDC single sign-on
  • Audit logs and role-based access control
  • SLA-backed support

Plans as listed on the official pricing page on 24 Oct 2026. Prices can change and may vary by country or exclude tax. Check the official pricing page.

Bifrost alternatives

The main Bifrost alternatives listed on Debuly are LiteLLM, Portkey, OpenRouter, Helicone, Kong AI Gateway and OmniRoute. The table compares pricing and platforms; order is A–Z.

1. 

   Helicone

   Open-source LLM observability and AI gateway that logs requests, tracks cost and latency, and routes to 100+ models through one API.

   Developer platformsCoding
   FreemiumVisit Helicone (official site)
2. 

   Kong AI Gateway

   Gateway and control layer for LLM, MCP and agent traffic, with usage metering, billing and cost limits built in.

   Developer platformsAutomation and agents
   Contact salesVisit Kong AI Gateway (official site)
3. 

   LiteLLM

   Open-source AI gateway and Python SDK that gives one OpenAI-format API to 100+ LLM providers, with keys, budgets and cost tracking.

   Developer platformsCodingAutomation and agents
   Open sourceVisit LiteLLM (official site)
4. 

   OmniRoute

   Free open-source AI gateway that puts 352 providers behind one OpenAI-compatible endpoint with automatic fallback.

   Developer platformsCodingAutomation and agents
   Open sourceVisit OmniRoute (official site)
5. 

   OpenRouter

   Unified OpenAI-compatible API for 500+ AI models with provider fallbacks, pay-as-you-go credits and a free tier

   Developer platformsChat assistantsAutomation and agents
   FreemiumVisit OpenRouter (official site)
6. 

   Portkey

   AI gateway with observability, guardrails, caching and prompt management for teams running LLM apps in production.

   Developer platformsAutomation and agents
   FreemiumVisit Portkey (official site)

Bifrost FAQ

Sources & verification

Facts on this page come from the official sources below, each with the date we read it. Written by Debuly; the vendor did not review this page.

Image credits

• Logo: from bifrost-website.getmaxim.workers.dev · fetched 23 Oct 2026 · Vendor trademark, used only to identify the product; removed on request
• Cover: none collected yet, so a generated tile is shown.

Spot an error? Report an issue with this listing. We also remove a logo or image on the owner's request.