head to head · open source
LiteLLM vs Bifrost
LiteLLM has 59,036 GitHub stars, 11,545 forks, 5,022 open issues and last shipped today. Bifrost has 8,147 stars, 1,228 forks, 1,014 open issues and last shipped today. LiteLLM leads on adoption by 625% (59,036 vs 8,147 stars). LiteLLM is written in Python under a custom or non-standard licence; Bifrost is written in Go under Apache-2.0. LiteLLM has attracted 20% as many forks as stars, Bifrost 15%. LiteLLM was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 5 topic tags (ai-gateway, gateway, llm, llm-gateway), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| LiteLLM | Bifrost | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 59K | ★ 8.1K |
| License | Custom / other | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Python | Go |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 12K | ⑂ 1.2K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick LiteLLM if
- You weight community size — 59K stars and counting
- You want the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Bifrost if
- You want the Bifrost feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and Bifrost fits your workflow better
About LiteLLM
LiteLLM is an open source AI gateway that provides a unified interface to call over 100 large language model (LLM) providers—including OpenAI, Anthropic, Azure OpenAI, Amazon Bedrock, Google VertexAI, and vLLM—using the OpenAI compatible API format. It runs as both a Python SDK for direct integration and as a standalone proxy server for centralized, team or organization wide use.
read the full LiteLLM overview →
About Bifrost
Bifrost is an open source, Go based AI gateway that puts 23+ model providers — OpenAI, Anthropic, AWS Bedrock, Google Vertex, Azure, Cerebras, Cohere, Mistral, Ollama, Groq and more — behind one OpenAI compatible API, built for teams running AI features in production that need failover, load balancing and caching without rewriting client code.
read the full Bifrost overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is LiteLLM or Bifrost more popular?
LiteLLM has 59,036 GitHub stars and Bifrost has 8,147. LiteLLM has the larger community by that measure.
Are LiteLLM and Bifrost free?
Both are open source. LiteLLM has no licence declared in this registry, and Bifrost is licensed under Apache-2.0. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between LiteLLM and Bifrost?
LiteLLM is written in Python and Bifrost in Go. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, LiteLLM or Bifrost?
Choose LiteLLM if you want the larger community (59,036 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose Bifrost if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.