---
title: "Portkey Pricing, Features & Alternatives (2026)"
description: "Portkey review: AI Gateways & LLM Proxies tool — Free tier, plans, pros & cons, and the best Portkey alternatives compared for startups in 2026."
source: https://appstackbuilder.com/tools/portkey
retrieved: 2026-10-14
---

![Portkey logo](https://www.google.com/s2/favicons?domain=portkey.ai&sz=128)

[AI Gateways & LLM Proxies](https://appstackbuilder.com/categories/ai-gateway)Free tier

# Portkey: Pricing, Features & Alternatives

Portkey combines a gateway and an observability layer. The gateway gives one API across model providers with retries, fallbacks, load balancing, caching and guardrails; the observability side records logs, traces and feedback. The gateway itself is open source and can be self-hosted. The hosted Developer plan is free for 10K recorded logs a month (requests over the limit still go through, they just are not logged). Production is $49/month for 100K logs plus $9 per extra 100K, and adds semantic caching, RBAC and alerts. Enterprise adds private cloud, VPC hosting, SSO and HIPAA.

Category

AI Gateways & LLM Proxies

Pricing

Free tier available

Free tier

Yes

Best for

AI Gateways & LLM Proxies — llm-routing, observability

[Visit Portkey official site](https://portkey.ai)

## Portkey Pricing Plans (2026)

| Plan              | Price                                | Highlights                                                                           |
| ----------------- | ------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| Developer         | $0                                   | 10K recorded logs / month · Gateway with fallbacks and retries · 3-day log retention |
| ProductionPopular | $49 / month + $9 per extra 100K logs | 100K recorded logs / month · Semantic caching · RBAC and alerts                      |
| Enterprise        | Custom                               | Private cloud or VPC · SSO · SOC 2, GDPR, HIPAA                                      |
| Open Source       | $0 (self-hosted gateway)             | Universal API · Routing and fallbacks · Basic dashboard                              |

Pricing summary: Free · paid from $49/mo. Always confirm current pricing on the official site.

## Key Portkey Features

* ✓100K recorded logs / month
* ✓Semantic caching
* ✓RBAC and alerts
* ✓30-day log retention

### ✓ Pros

* +Gateway and observability in one product
* +Open-source gateway you can self-host
* +Guardrails and semantic caching

### ✗ Cons

* −Free plan keeps logs for only 3 days
* −Log-based pricing grows with traffic
* −Private deployment is Enterprise-only

## Best Portkey Alternatives

[Compare all ](https://appstackbuilder.com/tool-alternatives/portkey)

[![LiteLLM logo](https://www.google.com/s2/favicons?domain=litellm.ai&sz=128)LiteLLMFree · paid plans by quote](https://appstackbuilder.com/tools/litellm)[![Helicone logo](https://www.google.com/s2/favicons?domain=helicone.ai&sz=128)HeliconeFree · paid from $79/mo](https://appstackbuilder.com/tools/helicone)[![Cloudflare AI Gateway logo](https://www.google.com/s2/favicons?domain=cloudflare.com&sz=128)Cloudflare AI GatewayFree · paid from $5/mo](https://appstackbuilder.com/tools/cloudflare-ai-gateway)

## Portkey Compared

[Portkey vs LiteLLM](https://appstackbuilder.com/compare/litellm-vs-portkey)[Portkey vs Helicone](https://appstackbuilder.com/compare/helicone-vs-portkey)[Portkey vs Cloudflare AI Gateway](https://appstackbuilder.com/compare/cloudflare-ai-gateway-vs-portkey)

[In-depth guideOpenRouter vs LiteLLM (2026): Hosted AI Gateway vs Open-Source LLM ProxyOpenRouter is a hosted service: one key, 500+ models, a 5.5% fee on credits. LiteLLM is MIT-licensed software you run yourself, with virtual keys and budgets per team. How each works, what the gateway costs at three spend levels, and why this site runs on OpenRouter.](https://appstackbuilder.com/blog/openrouter-vs-litellm-2026)

## Portkey FAQ

What is Portkey used for?⌄

Portkey is a ai gateways & llm proxies tool. AI gateway with built-in observability: route to any model with fallbacks, caching and guardrails, then trace every request.

Is Portkey free?⌄

Yes — Portkey has a free tier you can start with, and paid plans for more usage and features.

How much does Portkey cost?⌄

Portkey offers a free tier, with paid plans starting at $49/month. Some plans are usage-based (pay-as-you-go).

What are the best Portkey alternatives?⌄

Popular Portkey alternatives include LiteLLM, Helicone, Cloudflare AI Gateway. Compare pricing and features on our Portkey alternatives page.

## Not sure if Portkey fits your stack?

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