When developers compare OpenRouter, LiteLLM, Portkey, direct provider APIs, and a managed OpenAI-compatible gateway, the discussion often turns into a feature list.
That is the wrong first question.
The better question is:
What operational problem are you trying to remove from your app?
Different gateway choices solve different problems. A broad model marketplace, a self-hosted proxy, an enterprise control layer, and a managed cost-visible workspace are not the same product category even when they all speak something close to the OpenAI API shape.
