LiteLLM vs Stainless (2026)
Updated March 10, 2026
vs
Overview
Rating
10.0 / 10
Rating
10.0 / 10
Best For
Engineering teams who want a self-hosted, open-source LLM proxy for managing providers, keys, and budgets
Best For
AI companies and developers building API clients
Product Summary
LiteLLM is an open-source LLM gateway and Python SDK from BerriAI that puts 140+ providers behind one OpenAI-compatible API you host yourself.
Product Summary
Powers the official SDKs for OpenAI, Anthropic, and others. The de facto gateway interface layer.
Starting Price
Free
Starting Price
$0Per month
Free Trial
No
Free Trial
Yes
Free Version
Yes
Free Version
Yes
Website
Website
Key features
Core capabilities each platform advertises.
- OpenAI-compatible proxy for 140+ providers
- Virtual keys scoped to users and teams
- Budgets, rate limits, and spend tracking
- Fallbacks, retries, and load balancing
- Guardrails for PII masking and prompt injection
- SDK generation
- API interface
- Type-safe clients
Strengths and tradeoffs
What each tool does well, and the limitations to keep in mind.
Pros
- MIT-licensed proxy, free at any volume
- 140+ providers behind one OpenAI-compatible API
- Virtual keys and budgets per user and team
- Runs inside your own infrastructure
Cons
- You run, scale, and secure the proxy yourself
- Two PyPI releases were compromised in a March 2026 supply chain attack
- SSO, RBAC, and audit logs require the Enterprise license
- Tracing and evals depend on separate tools
Pros
- Automates SDK dev
- Type-safe code
- Multi-language
Cons
- Requires OpenAPI
- Limited customization
LiteLLM or Stainless — which should you choose?
Choose LiteLLM if you wantChoose if you want
- Self-hosted LLM gateway for data control
- Standardizing LLM access across teams
- Budget enforcement per team or project
- Switching providers without code changes
- Issuing scoped API keys to internal users
Choose Stainless if you wantChoose if you want
Data not available
Compare LiteLLM and Stainless on your own traffic
10KFree traces/mo
1,000+Models
5 minSetup
Respan lets you trace LLM and agent calls across any model or framework, A/B test prompts on production traffic, and route requests across 1,000+ models through one gateway.
Try Respan free