AI Gateway tool profile
Bifrost
An Apache-2.0 open-source AI gateway from Maxim AI that puts 23+ providers behind one OpenAI-compatible API, built for low added latency, with failover, load balancing and semantic caching.
Independent research from official sources · Sources · How we review
- Best for
- Engineering teams running high-traffic LLM apps that want a fast, self-hosted gateway with failover and caching, and an enterprise path for clustering and guardrails.
- Starting point
- Open source under Apache 2.0 and free to self-host.
- Free plan
- Yes — The open-source gateway is free to self-host under Apache 2.0; there is no hosted free plan.
- Key limitation
- Latency figures come from Bifrost's own benchmarks; measure with your traffic
Choose it if
Strongest for
Built for
Avoid it if
- Clustering, adaptive load balancing, guardrails and the MCP gateway are documented as enterprise features
- Enterprise pricing is not published
Free-plan suitability
The open-source gateway is free to self-host under Apache 2.0; there is no hosted free plan.
Pricing
Open source under Apache 2.0 and free to self-host. Bifrost Enterprise (private deployments with adaptive load balancing, clustering, guardrails and an MCP gateway) has a 14-day free trial; its price is not published.
Verify the current plan, credits, output limits, and commercial terms before purchasing.
Run it 24/7 on your own server
Bifrost runs on your own machine, so it stops answering when your laptop sleeps. A small Linux VPS with Docker keeps it online for scripts, agents and teammates, with a fixed monthly cost instead of per-token markup.
- Start with the smallest plan that runs Docker; upgrade only if you add users or local models.
- Keep the gateway bound to localhost or behind a firewall, and store provider keys as environment variables.
- Monthly billing lets you test before committing to a long term.
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What Bifrost does
- One OpenAI-compatible API for 23+ providers, including OpenAI, Anthropic, AWS Bedrock and Google Vertex
- Automatic provider failover, load balancing and semantic caching
- Vendor benchmark: about 11 microseconds of added overhead per request at a sustained 5,000 requests per second
- Governance and budgets with virtual keys, custom plugins and OpenTelemetry observability
- Apache-2.0 repository with about 8.6k GitHub stars (2026-10-06); Enterprise adds clustering, adaptive load balancing, guardrails and an MCP gateway
Is it legit?
Who is behind Bifrost, where it is based, and what is publicly known about its funding. Company details change — verify on the official site before committing.
- Company
- Maxim AI
Evaluation guide
Step-by-step evaluation guides for Bifrost — workflow fit, pricing, rights, and a same-input test before paying.
Where Bifrost appears
Best-of lists and roundups that include Bifrost.
Official sources
These links are retained beside the catalog record so changing details can be rechecked.