Cloudflare AI Gateway vs Unify
Updated March 10, 2026
Overview
Cloudflare AI Gateway is a proxy for AI API traffic that provides caching, rate limiting, analytics, and logging for LLM requests. Running on Cloudflare's global edge network, it reduces latency and costs by caching repeated requests. Free to use on all Cloudflare plans.
Unify provides intelligent LLM routing that automatically selects the optimal model and provider for each request based on quality, cost, and latency constraints. It benchmarks 100+ endpoints across providers and dynamically routes traffic to maximize performance while minimizing costs.
Key features
Core capabilities each platform advertises.
- Edge-deployed AI gateway
- Caching and rate limiting
- Usage analytics
- Provider failover
- Cloudflare network integration
Strengths and tradeoffs
What each tool does well, and the limitations to keep in mind.
Pros
- Core features free with Cloudflare plans—no per-call gateway fees
- Tightly integrated with Cloudflare global network for low-latency routing
- One-line integration for major LLM providers
- Built-in caching, rate limiting, and fallbacks improve reliability
Cons
- Adds 10-50ms proxy latency to every request
- Lacks token-level tracing and prompt analysis
- Strict log retention caps require manual management at scale
- No enterprise governance features like RBAC or audit trails
Pros
- Developer-friendly platform
- Production-ready
- Good performance
- Active development
Cons
- Enterprise pricing varies
- Setup complexity
- Learning curve
Cloudflare AI or Unify — which should you choose?
Choose Cloudflare AI if you wantChoose if you want
- Edge caching for AI API calls
- Rate limiting AI usage per user
- Cost management for AI APIs
- Global AI traffic management
- Cloudflare ecosystem AI integration
Choose Unify if you wantChoose if you want
Compare Cloudflare AI Gateway and Unify on your own traffic
Respan lets you trace LLM and agent calls across any model or framework, A/B test prompts on production traffic, and route requests across 500+ models through one gateway.