What is Bifrost?
Bifrost is an AI gateway by Maxim AI that sits between your application and model providers. You point your existing SDK (OpenAI, Anthropic, Vercel AI SDK, LangChain, LiteLLM and others) at a Bifrost endpoint by changing a single line, and it forwards requests to 8+ providers and 1000+ models through one interface, including custom deployed models.
On top of routing it adds provider fallback for failover, budgets and virtual keys per team or use case, an MCP gateway for centralizing tool connections, semantic caching, OpenTelemetry-compatible observability and a built-in dashboard. The Enterprise tier adds guardrails, SAML/OIDC SSO, RBAC, audit logs, vault integrations, cluster mode, VPC or air-gapped deployment and SLA-backed support. The site reports 20 microseconds of added latency and around 5,000 requests per second, with a 50x P99 latency advantage over LiteLLM in its own benchmark.
Key features
- Unified API for 1000+ models across 8+ providers, with drop-in SDK replacement
- Provider fallback and adaptive load balancing
- Budgets, rate limits and virtual keys per team or use case
- Built-in MCP gateway for centralized tool access
- OpenTelemetry tracing, metrics and a built-in dashboard
- Guardrails, SSO and audit logs (Enterprise)
Who is it for
- AI engineers and backend developers
- Platform and DevOps teams running LLM infrastructure
- Enterprises with compliance or private deployment requirements
Pros and cons
- Open source under Apache 2.0 with a free self-hosted version
- Minimal latency overhead and high throughput according to the vendor's benchmarks
- Works with existing OpenAI, Anthropic and LangChain code by changing the base URL
- Enterprise features, including guardrails and SSO, require a custom-priced license
- Benchmark figures are the vendor's own and were measured on their hardware setup
Bifrost pricing
| Plan | Price | Includes |
|---|---|---|
| OSS | 0 | Free forever, self-managed, community support via Discord and GitHub |
Prices copied from Bifrost pricing, checked October 12, 2026. Currency as shown by the vendor; taxes may apply.
Is Bifrost free?
Yes, there is a free plan. OSS version is free forever for self-hosted use (Docker, Kubernetes or Go binary), with community support. Enterprise offers a 14-day free trial.
Bifrost alternatives
| Tool | Price from | Free plan | Category |
|---|---|---|---|
 Cline | not listed | yes | APIs & models |
 Ollama | 20 USD/mo | yes | APIs & models |
 Amazon Bedrock | od 0,20 USD | ? | APIs & models |
 Claude Platform (Anthropic API) | 2 USD input / 10 USD output | no | APIs & models |
 Groq | not listed | ? | APIs & models |
 Respan | 199 USD/mo | yes | APIs & models |
FAQ
What is Bifrost used for?
Open-source AI gateway that routes LLM, MCP and agent traffic through one API, for developers and enterprises running AI in production.
Is Bifrost free?
Yes, there is a free plan. OSS version is free forever for self-hosted use (Docker, Kubernetes or Go binary), with community support. Enterprise offers a 14-day free trial.
How much does Bifrost cost?
The vendor does not publish prices publicly or requires sign-in.
What are the best Bifrost alternatives?
Closest alternatives: Cline, Ollama, Amazon Bedrock, Claude Platform (Anthropic API), Groq.
Data checked October 12, 2026 on the vendor website (getmaxim.ai).