# Higress vs OpenRouter

| Attribute | Higress | OpenRouter |
|---|---|---|
| **vioscaleAI score** | 58.4 (55% (medium)) | 66.6 (34% (low)) |
| activity.commits_last_30d | 93 | - |
| adoption.dependent_repos | 4 | - |
| adoption.github_stars | 9,567 | - |
| content.faq | `[{"answer":"An API gateway that routes requests to multiple language models and manages AI agents through pluggable extensions. Provided as open-source for self-hosting or as a managed cloud service with 99.95% availability guarantee. It is indexed under Llm Gateways.","source":"https://higress.io","question":"What is Higress?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Higress offers a free tier, so you can start without paying. Pricing changes often, so verify at source before relying on it.","source":"https://higress.io","question":"Is Higress free?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Higress supports the web and a command-line interface. Platforms we have not confirmed are simply not listed here rather than ruled out.","source":"https://higress.io","question":"What platforms does Higress support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. Higress can be deployed cloud / SaaS and self-hosted, so it does not have to run on the vendor's infrastructure.","source":"https://higress.io","question":"Can Higress be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have confirmed 6 integrations for Higress, including OpenAI, Claude, DeepSeek, Aliyun Dashscope, Aliyun DashVector and Doubao. This is what we could verify from public sources, so the vendor may support others we have not indexed.","source":"https://higress.io","question":"What does Higress integrate with?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. Higress is published under the Apache-2.0 licence, a permissive licence that generally allows commercial use and modification. Licence terms can change between releases, so verify against the repository for the version you intend to use.","source":"https://github.com/alibaba/higress","question":"Is Higress open source?","confidence":0.95},{"answer":"Higress is available worldwide. Its primary markets are China and the United States. The vendor is headquartered in China.","source":"https://higress.io","question":"Where is Higress available?","confidence":0.75}]` | `[{"answer":"OpenRouter aggregates 500+ language models from 80+ providers through a single, OpenAI-compatible API interface. It offers automatic fallback routing, cost control, usage analytics, and data policy management for teams deploying AI applications at scale. It is indexed under Llm Gateways.","source":"https://openrouter.ai","question":"What is OpenRouter?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"OpenRouter offers a free tier, so you can start without paying. Paid plans are also available: Free, Pay-as-you-go and Enterprise. Pricing changes often, so verify at source before relying on it.","source":"https://openrouter.ai/pricing","question":"Is OpenRouter free?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"OpenRouter supports the web and a command-line interface. Platforms we have not confirmed are simply not listed here rather than ruled out.","source":"https://openrouter.ai","question":"What platforms does OpenRouter support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have only confirmed a cloud / SaaS deployment for OpenRouter, so it appears to be vendor-hosted. If a self-hosted option exists we have not found it documented publicly.","source":"https://openrouter.ai","question":"Can OpenRouter be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have confirmed 10 integrations for OpenRouter, including Vercel AI SDK, Claude Code, Cursor, OpenAI SDK, Anthropic, Google, Meta and Mistral, plus 2 more. This is what we could verify from public sources, so the vendor may support others we have not indexed.","source":"https://openrouter.ai","question":"What does OpenRouter integrate with?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have independently confirmed GDPR for OpenRouter. Certifications we do not list are ones we have not been able to verify from public sources, which is not the same as OpenRouter not holding them. Always confirm compliance directly before you rely on it.","source":"https://openrouter.ai/privacy","question":"What security certifications does OpenRouter have?","confidence":0.7}]` |
| deployment.options | `{"cloud":true,"self_hosted":true}` | `{"cloud":true}` |
| description.long | Higress is an open-source API gateway designed to manage AI workloads, language model integrations, and tool services. It supports both self-hosted deployment and commercial cloud offerings, with production-grade reliability including 99.95% SLA for enterprise deployments. | OpenRouter provides a unified, OpenAI-compatible API that consolidates access to over 500 language models from 80+ providers. It features automatic failover for reliability, cost-optimized routing, transparent provider pricing with modest platform fees, and support for multiple deployment and authentication methods. |
| features.capabilities | `{"caching":"semantic","open_source":true,"pricing_model":"open-source-self-host","rate_limiting":true,"deployment_model":"self-hosted","routing_strategy":"load-based","streaming_support":true,"automatic_failover":true,"openai_compatible_api":true,"request_cost_observability":true}` | `{"caching":"exact","open_source":true,"pricing_model":"usage-based-saas","rate_limiting":true,"deployment_model":"managed-SaaS","routing_strategy":"cost-based","streaming_support":true,"architecture_model":"managed_cloud_saas","automatic_failover":true,"budget_spend_controls":true,"openai_compatible_api":true,"virtual_key_management":true,"request_cost_observability":true,"bring_your_own_keys_byok_routing":true,"custom_rate_limiting_by_user_or_tenant_id":true,"streaming_token_support_server_sent_events":true,"universal_api_key_for_100_plus_llm_providers":true,"zero_data_retention_and_prompt_logging_opt_out":true,"auto_fallback_routing_on_rate_limit_or_downtime":true,"organization_wide_cost_tracking_and_chargebacks":true,"semantic_caching_for_repeat_queries_and_cost_savings":false}` |
| integrations.count | 8 | 80 |
| integrations.list | `[{"name":"OpenAI"},{"name":"Claude"},{"name":"DeepSeek"},{"name":"Azure OpenAI"},{"name":"Aliyun Dashscope"},{"name":"Aliyun DashVector"},{"name":"Doubao"},{"name":"Kubernetes","native":true,"direction":"bidirectional"},{"name":"Istio","native":true,"direction":"bidirectional"},{"name":"Nginx Ingress","native":false,"category":"proxy","direction":"inbound"},{"name":"Let's Encrypt","native":true,"category":"certificate","direction":"inbound"},{"name":"Tongyiqianwen","native":true,"category":"llm"},{"name":"Doubaoquantum","native":true,"category":"llm"},{"name":"Envoy","native":true,"category":"infrastructure"},{"name":"NGINX","category":"web-server","direction":"bidirectional"},{"name":"Sealos","category":"platform","direction":"bidirectional"}]` | `[{"name":"Vercel AI SDK"},{"name":"Claude Code"},{"name":"Cursor"},{"name":"OpenAI SDK"},{"name":"OpenAI"},{"name":"Anthropic"},{"name":"Google"},{"name":"Meta"},{"name":"Mistral"},{"name":"Model Context Protocol (MCP)"},{"name":"Terraform"}]` |
| language.primary | Go | - |
| license.spdx | Apache-2.0 | - |
| market.availability | `{"hqCountry":"CN","primaryMarkets":[],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` | `{"primaryMarkets":[],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` |
| platform.support | `{"web":true,"linux":true}` | `{"cli":true,"web":true}` |
| pricing | `{"type":"hybrid","plans":[{"free":true,"name":"Open Source","description":"Self-hosted open source version","contactSales":false},{"free":false,"name":"Cloud Commercial","description":"Managed cloud version with 99.95% SLA","contactSales":true}],"summary":"Free open source self-hosted, plus commercial cloud offering","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://higress.io","retrievedAt":"2026-10-15T21:10:21.868Z"}` | `{"type":"hybrid","plans":[{"free":true,"name":"Free","summary":"Free, 50 requests/day","features":["Chat and API access","25+ free models","4 free providers","50 requests/day rate limit","Community support"],"components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":0,"currency":"USD"}],"contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"models":"25+","providers":"4","requests_per_day":"50"}},{"free":false,"name":"Standard","summary":"5.5% platform fee on provider pricing","features":["Pay-as-you-go usage billing","500+ models","80+ providers","Email support","Budgets and spend controls","Activity logs and export","Auto-routing and vendor selection"],"components":[{"kind":"percentage","rate":5.5}],"contactSales":false},{"free":false,"name":"Business","summary":"Custom pricing with volume discounts","features":["Fee discounts available","500+ models","80+ providers","Custom rate limits","Invoicing options"],"contactSales":true},{"free":false,"name":"Enterprise","summary":"Custom enterprise pricing and support","features":["Custom pricing","500+ models","80+ providers","Dedicated support team","Contractual SLAs","SSO/SAML","Custom rate limits"],"contactSales":true}],"summary":"Free tier with 50 requests/day, or pay-as-you-go at 5.5% markup","currency":"USD","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://openrouter.ai/pricing","retrievedAt":"2026-10-02T10:53:56.899Z"}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | yes |
| pricing.model | freemium | freemium |
| pricing.price_level | low | low |
| pricing.transparent | no | yes |
| release.cadence_days | 28 | - |
| release.history | `[{"url":"https://github.com/higress-group/higress/releases/tag/v2.2.5","date":"2026-10-04T19:46:14Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.2.5"},{"url":"https://github.com/higress-group/higress/releases/tag/v2.2.4","date":"2026-08-13T23:49:46Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.2.4"},{"url":"https://github.com/higress-group/higress/releases/tag/v2.2.3","date":"2026-06-25T02:58:49Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.2.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/higress-group/higress/releases/tag/v2.2.2","date":"2026-05-26T01:41:03Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.2.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/higress-group/higress/releases/tag/v2.2.1","date":"2026-04-09T12:23:09Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.2.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/higress-group/higress/releases/tag/v2.1.11","date":"2026-02-22T12:29:31Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.1.11"},{"url":"https://github.com/higress-group/higress/releases/tag/v2.2.0","date":"2026-02-11T09:48:13Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.2.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/higress-group/higress/releases/tag/v2.1.10","date":"2026-02-03T11:30:12Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.1.10"},{"url":"https://github.com/higress-group/higress/releases/tag/v2.1.9","date":"2025-11-13T11:52:04Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.1.9"},{"url":"https://github.com/higress-group/higress/releases/tag/v2.1.9-rc.1","date":"2025-10-09T09:33:03Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.1.9-rc.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/higress-group/higress/releases/tag/v2.1.8","date":"2025-09-21T07:34:39Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.1.8"},{"url":"https://github.com/higress-group/higress/releases/tag/v2.1.7","date":"2025-09-01T07:59:07Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.1.7"},{"url":"https://github.com/higress-group/higress/releases/tag/v2.1.6","date":"2025-07-30T13:53:30Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.1.6"},{"url":"https://github.com/higress-group/higress/releases/tag/v2.1.5","date":"2025-07-02T10:04:17Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.1.5"},{"url":"https://github.com/higress-group/higress/releases/tag/v2.1.5-rc.1","date":"2025-06-18T01:17:20Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.1.5-rc.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/higress-group/higress/releases/tag/v2.1.4","date":"2025-06-10T14:24:05Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.1.4"},{"url":"https://github.com/higress-group/higress/releases/tag/v2.1.3","date":"2025-05-09T07:31:06Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.1.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/higress-group/higress/releases/tag/v2.1.2","date":"2025-04-29T12:55:59Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.1.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/higress-group/higress/releases/tag/v2.1.2-rc.1","date":"2025-04-28T15:03:09Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.1.2-rc.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/higress-group/higress/releases/tag/v2.1.1","date":"2025-04-18T08:48:03Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.1.1"}]` | - |
| reliability.sla_pct | 99.95 | - |
| security.gdpr | - | yes |
| security.trust_center | - | https://openrouter.ai/privacy |
| security.vulnerabilities | `{"count":0,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=go&package_name=github.com%2Falibaba%2Fhigress%2Fplugins%2Fwasm-go&per_page=100","last_12m":0,"max_severity":null}` | - |

## Capabilities (Llm Gateways)

| Capability | Higress | OpenRouter |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Capabilities** |  |  |
| Openai compatible API | ✓ | ✓ |
| Automatic failover | ✓ | ✓ |
| Routing strategy | Load based | Cost based |
| Caching | Semantic | Exact |
| Virtual key management | - | ✓ |
| Budget spend controls | - | ✓ |
| Rate limiting | ✓ | ✓ |
| Guardrails moderation | - | - |
| Request cost observability | ✓ | ✓ |
| Streaming support | ✓ | ✓ |
| Deployment model | Self hosted | Managed SaaS |
| Open source | ✓ | ✓ |
| Pricing model | Open source self host | Usage based saas |

*Source: vioscaleAI. Generated 2026-10-16T21:25:34.728Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*