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Nick edited this page Nov 13, 2025 · 1 revision

Comparison

Comparison of ReliAPI with other reliability and LLM gateway tools.

Overview

Feature ReliAPI LiteLLM Portkey Helicone
Self-hosted ✅ Yes ✅ Yes ✅ Yes ❌ No (SaaS)
Open Source ✅ MIT ✅ MIT ✅ MIT ❌ Proprietary
HTTP Proxy ✅ Universal ❌ LLM only ❌ LLM only ❌ LLM only
LLM Proxy ✅ Yes ✅ Yes ✅ Yes ✅ Yes
Idempotency ✅ First-class ❌ No ⚠️ Limited ❌ No
Budget Caps ✅ Hard + Soft ⚠️ Basic ✅ Yes ✅ Yes
Caching ✅ TTL cache ✅ Yes ✅ Yes ✅ Yes
Retries ✅ Configurable ✅ Yes ✅ Yes ✅ Yes
Circuit Breaker ✅ Per-target ⚠️ Basic ✅ Yes ✅ Yes
Fallback Chains ✅ Config-driven ✅ Yes ✅ Yes ✅ Yes
Streaming ❌ Not yet ✅ Yes ✅ Yes ✅ Yes
Observability ✅ Prometheus ✅ Yes ✅ Yes ✅ Yes
Minimal ✅ ~2K LOC ❌ Large ❌ Large ❌ Large
Docker Ready ✅ Yes ✅ Yes ✅ Yes N/A

LiteLLM

Where LiteLLM is Strong

  • Comprehensive LLM Support: Supports many LLM providers
  • Streaming: Full streaming support
  • Prompt Management: Built-in prompt management features
  • Active Development: Very active community and development

Where ReliAPI is Different

  • HTTP Support: ReliAPI supports any HTTP API, not just LLMs
  • Idempotency: ReliAPI has first-class idempotency with coalescing
  • Minimal: ReliAPI is much smaller (~2K LOC vs large codebase)
  • Budget Control: ReliAPI has hard/soft caps with throttling

When to Choose LiteLLM

  • Need comprehensive LLM provider abstraction
  • Need streaming support
  • Need prompt management features
  • Don't need HTTP proxy capabilities

When to Choose ReliAPI

  • Need HTTP + LLM proxy in one gateway
  • Need first-class idempotency
  • Need predictable budget control
  • Prefer minimal, self-hostable solution

Portkey

Where Portkey is Strong

  • Observability: Excellent observability dashboards
  • Budget Controls: Good budget control features
  • Fallback Chains: Strong fallback chain support
  • Enterprise Features: Multi-tenant and enterprise features

Where ReliAPI is Different

  • HTTP Support: ReliAPI supports any HTTP API, not just LLMs
  • Idempotency: ReliAPI has first-class idempotency with coalescing
  • Minimal: ReliAPI is much smaller and simpler
  • Self-Hosted Focus: ReliAPI is designed for self-hosting

When to Choose Portkey

  • Need advanced observability dashboards
  • Need multi-tenant features
  • Need enterprise support
  • Don't need HTTP proxy capabilities

When to Choose ReliAPI

  • Need HTTP + LLM proxy in one gateway
  • Need first-class idempotency
  • Prefer minimal, self-hostable solution
  • Don't need advanced dashboards

Helicone

Where Helicone is Strong

  • Observability: Excellent observability and analytics
  • SaaS: Easy setup, no self-hosting needed
  • Request Logging: Comprehensive request/response logging
  • Analytics: Advanced analytics and insights

Where ReliAPI is Different

  • Self-Hosted: ReliAPI is fully self-hostable
  • HTTP Support: ReliAPI supports any HTTP API, not just LLMs
  • Idempotency: ReliAPI has first-class idempotency
  • Open Source: ReliAPI is open source (MIT)

When to Choose Helicone

  • Want SaaS observability (no self-hosting)
  • Need advanced analytics
  • Need request/response logging
  • Don't need HTTP proxy capabilities

When to Choose ReliAPI

  • Need self-hosted solution
  • Need HTTP + LLM proxy in one gateway
  • Need first-class idempotency
  • Prefer open source solution

Key Differentiators

ReliAPI's Unique Strengths

  1. Universal HTTP Proxy: Works for any HTTP API, not just LLMs
  2. First-Class Idempotency: Request coalescing with conflict detection
  3. Predictable Budget Control: Hard/soft caps with throttling
  4. Minimal: Small codebase (~2K LOC), easy to understand and maintain
  5. Self-Hosted Focus: Designed for self-hosting, no external dependencies

ReliAPI's Limitations

  1. No Streaming: Streaming not supported yet (planned)
  2. No Dashboards: Prometheus metrics only, no built-in dashboards
  3. No Multi-Tenant: Single-tenant only
  4. Limited Providers: Supports OpenAI, Anthropic, Mistral (expandable)

Performance Comparison

Note: Performance comparisons are approximate and depend on setup. These are not guarantees.

Metric ReliAPI LiteLLM Portkey Helicone
Overhead (p50) ~5ms ~10ms ~8ms ~15ms
Overhead (p95) ~15ms ~30ms ~25ms ~40ms
Memory (idle) ~50MB ~150MB ~120MB N/A
Memory (100 RPS) ~100MB ~300MB ~250MB N/A

These are synthetic examples based on typical deployments. Actual performance depends on workload, hardware, and configuration.

Use Case Matrix

Use Case ReliAPI LiteLLM Portkey Helicone
Self-hosted LLM proxy ✅ ✅ ✅ ❌
HTTP API reliability ✅ ❌ ❌ ❌
Idempotent LLM calls ✅ ❌ ⚠️ ❌
Predictable costs ✅ ⚠️ ✅ ✅
Minimal overhead ✅ ⚠️ ⚠️ ⚠️
Streaming support ❌ ✅ ✅ ✅
Observability dashboards ❌ ⚠️ ✅ ✅
Multi-tenant ❌ ⚠️ ✅ ✅

Summary

ReliAPI is best for teams that need:

  • Universal HTTP + LLM proxy in one gateway
  • First-class idempotency with coalescing
  • Predictable budget control with hard/soft caps
  • Minimal, self-hostable solution
  • Simple configuration and low overhead

Choose alternatives if you need:

  • Streaming support (LiteLLM, Portkey)
  • Advanced dashboards (Portkey, Helicone)
  • Multi-tenant features (Portkey)
  • SaaS observability (Helicone)

Next Steps

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