What we checked on Portkey
Agent permissions
The MCP Gateway checks permissions before tool calls and can enable or disable tools for individual users.
The Gateway handles credential injection, permission checks, and request logging for all configured servers.
Model choice
Teams choose from supported providers and models through one universal API rather than a vendor-selected model.
Use any of the supported models with a universal API (REST and SDKs)
Self-hosted
The open-source gateway can run locally or be self-hosted, separate from Portkey's managed deployment plans.
You can also self-host the gateway and then connect it to Portkey.
Open source
Portkey publishes its AI Gateway as an open-source component alongside separately sold managed plans.
We have open sourced our battle-tested AI Gateway to the community
Licence
The AI Gateway is open source, while the vendor also sells managed Developer, Production, and Enterprise plans.
On the page: Feature Comparison documentation, detailed comparison plan header
Open-source runtime
The documented open-source gateway runs locally through an npx command, providing a self-run gateway runtime.
You can run it locally with a single command: npx @portkey-ai/gateway
Runs in your cloud
Enterprise hybrid deployment runs the AI Gateway and data plane in the buyer's environment while Portkey hosts control management.
the AI Gateway and data plane run in your environment while Portkey manages the control plane.
SDK languages
Portkey documents SDK usage in Python and Node.js, with REST access also available through its universal interface.
Node.js, Python, OpenAI JS, OpenAI Py, cURL
portkey.aiChecked
Tracing and evals
Its observability suite records requests and responses, supports tracing, and presents analytics for LLM application monitoring.
Portkey supports request tracing to help you monitor your applications throughout the lifecycle of a request.
How it meters
The paid Production plan bills monthly, with a stated request-overage charge after its included recorded-log allowance.
+$9 overages per additional 100k requests
portkey.ai/pricingChecked
Free tier
A standing Developer plan is labeled free forever and provides a self-serve starting path without a sales call.
Developer, Free Forever
portkey.ai/pricingChecked
MCP server
The MCP Gateway proxies MCP clients to configured servers and supports authentication, authorization, tool access, and interaction logs.
It acts as a proxy between MCP Clients and MCP servers, handling authentication, access control, and logging.
Bring your own key
Organizations supply and centrally govern their own provider credentials, including API keys for model providers such as OpenAI.
Enter your API keys here
A company can buy it
Portkey offers an Enterprise plan with customized infrastructure and governance capabilities designed for organizations operating at scale.
Enterprise customers leverage Portkey to observe, govern, and optimize their Gen AI services at scale across the entire org.
Admin controls
Enterprise administrators can control model access, workspace budgets, rate limits, and permissions, but these controls are not product-wide.
For enterprise clients, we provide enhanced Role-Based Access Control (RBAC), allowing for stringent governance suited to complex organizational…
Audit log
Enterprise audit logs record administrative activity with user, resource, action, timestamp, and other traceability information.
This is a Portkey Enterprise plan feature.
Single sign-on
Enterprise control-plane SSO supports both OIDC and SAML 2.0, rather than being documented for every plan.
Portkey Control plane supports following authentication protocols for enterprise customers. 1. OIDC (OpenID Connect) 2. SAML 2.0
Data residency
Hybrid Enterprise deployment keeps sensitive LLM data in the buyer's infrastructure, though no specific regional jurisdiction is published.
All sensitive LLM data stays within your infrastructure
Getting out
Enterprise customers can export structured log data, while the vendor does not state a policy for unused credits or their expiry.
Logs export feature is only available on the enterprise plan.
Certifications
Enterprise documentation states SOC 2, ISO 27001, GDPR, and HIPAA compliance, rather than publishing these certifications across all plans.
All enterprise deployment options include comprehensive security features such as SOC2, ISO27001, GDPR, and HIPAA compliance certifications
Portkey price and terms
Terms
- Free plan
- YesYesDeveloper is Free Forever with 10K requests per month
The terms in full
the card also states 10k recorded logs per month and three days of log retention.
What needs a higher plan
- Enterprise
- Runs in your cloud, A company can buy it, Admin controls, Audit log, Single sign-on, Data residency
For AI agents
- MCP server
- Yes
Pricing page, captured
portkey.ai/pricing, checked
Portkey alternatives
All 2 alternatives- This spot is openBe the first agent people see on Portkey's page.
- First on your rivals' pages
- Top of your category
- First in the home page list
- First in search results
- In comparisons and guides
- In the weekly newsletter
- Visits and AI reads each month
Portkey and its 2 alternatives
All 2 publish a price.
Portkey beside its alternatives: the price on each one's site, all checked 29 Oct Tool Price Portkey Free, then $49 a month OpenRouter Free LiteLLM Free All checked
See all 2
Questions about Portkey
- How much does Portkey cost?
- Portkey is free to use. From portkey.ai/pricing, checked 29 October 2026.
- Does Portkey have an API or an MCP server?
- It has an MCP server.
- Is Portkey open source, and can you host it yourself?
- It is open source. You can host it yourself.
- What have we checked on Portkey?
- 20 facts, under these headings: How much it does unattended, which models it runs on, whose machine it runs on, building with it, what it costs to run, buying it for a team, what happens to your code.
- How do we check Portkey?
- We hold 20 facts on Portkey, quoted from 12 pages. Facts and price last checked 29 October 2026.
Sources and changes
Last changed
Sources on portkey.ai12
- /docs/product/product-feature-comparison.md
- /docs/product/ai-gateway.md
- /pricing
- /docs/product/mcp-gateway.md
- /
- /docs/product/enterprise-offering/audit-logs.md
- /docs/product/enterprise-offering/org-management/sso.md
- /docs/product/enterprise-offering/security-portkey.md
- /docs/product/model-catalog.md
- /docs/product/observability.md
- /docs/product/observability/logs-export.md
- /docs/product/open-source.md
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