Bifrost OSS for Startups | Free Production-Ready LLM Gateway

Performance at a Glance

Gateway Overhead

11µs Per request at 5K RPS

Requests/Second

5K Sustained throughput

AI Models

1000+ Unified API access

Configuration

0 Deploy in seconds

OSS Features

• 99.999% uptimeAutomatic failover. Seamless provider switching when primary systems fail. Zero downtime when OpenAI, Anthropic, or other providers experience outages or hit rate limits.
• Weighted routingIntelligent load balancing. Weighted API key distribution with model-specific filtering. Route requests across multiple keys and providers for higher throughput and reliability.
• Cost savingsSemantic caching. Intelligent response caching based on semantic similarity. Reduce costs and latency by serving similar queries from cache instead of hitting the model.
• Access controlVirtual keys & budgets. Create separate credentials for each team or project with independent rate limits and budgets. Hierarchical cost management across virtual keys, teams, users, and customers.
• OTEL nativeReal-time observability. Built-in request tracking, performance analysis, Prometheus metrics, and OpenTelemetry integration. Monitor every AI request in real-time.
• Zero refactorDrop-in replacement. Replace existing AI SDK connections by changing just the base URL. Works with OpenAI SDK, Anthropic SDK, LangChain, and all major frameworks.

Why Startups Choose Bifrost OSS

• Zero cost to start. Free, open-source, and production-ready. No enterprise license required for core functionality. Deploy on your infrastructure and scale without vendor lock-in.
• Scale without breaking. Built in Go for high-performance workloads. Handles 5,000 requests per second with only 11µs overhead. Scales horizontally as your startup grows.
• Avoid provider lock-in. Switch between 1000+ models without code changes. Compare model quality, cost, and latency across OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, and others from day one.
• Cut costs immediately. Semantic caching reduces redundant model calls. Load balancing optimizes API key usage. Virtual key budgets prevent runaway spending.
• Ship faster. No need to build custom routing, failover, or monitoring infrastructure. Focus on product features while Bifrost handles LLM reliability and observability.
• Community-driven. Open source with active GitHub community. Contribute features, report issues, and learn from other startups building with Bifrost.

Core Capabilities

• Multi-provider routing. Direct requests to specific models and providers with weighted strategies. Support for OpenAI, Anthropic, AWS Bedrock, Google Vertex, Azure, Groq, Mistral, Cohere, and 12+ additional providers.
• MCP tool filtering. Allow-list controls determining which Model Context Protocol tools are available per virtual key. Fine-grained permissions for AI agent capabilities.
• Custom Plugins. Custom plugins via Go or WebAssembly for bespoke business logic. Includes Mocker plugin for simulating provider responses during development.
• Built-in web UI. Visual configuration dashboard with real-time monitoring. Configure virtual keys, view request logs, track costs, and analyze performance without code.
• Prometheus & OTEL. Native metrics collection via Prometheus scraping or Push Gateway. OpenTelemetry integration with Grafana, New Relic, Honeycomb, and any observability stack.
• Go SDK integration. Direct application integration for maximum performance and control. Deploy as HTTP gateway or embed in your Go application.

Deployment Options

• Docker. Pull and run the official Docker image
• Kubernetes. Deploy via Helm chart with auto-scaling
• Binary. Download and run the standalone binary
• Go SDK. Embed directly in your application

docker pull bifrost-gateway
docker run -p 8080:8080 bifrost

helm repo add bifrost https://charts.getbifrost.ai
helm install bifrost bifrost/bifrost

wget https://github.com/maximhq/bifrost/releases/latest
./bifrost --port 8080

import "github.com/maximhq/bifrost"

gateway := bifrost.NewGateway()
gateway.Start(":8080")

OSS vs Enterprise

OSS provides production-ready core features. Enterprise adds compliance, advanced governance, and priority support.

Use Cases

• Early-stage startups. Launch AI features without infrastructure overhead. Free OSS provides production-ready failover, caching, and multi-provider access from day one.
• Rapid prototyping. Test models across OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, and others without large code changes. Compare quality and cost before committing to one provider.
• Cost-conscious teams. Semantic caching and load balancing reduce redundant LLM spend. Virtual key budgets prevent surprise bills. Free OSS means no gateway license fees.
• SME AI adoption. Small and medium enterprises can deploy enterprise-grade LLM infrastructure without enterprise budgets. Self-host on existing infrastructure.
• Developer tools. Integrate AI features into developer tools, IDEs, or CLI applications. Go SDK provides direct embedding. HTTP gateway works with any language.
• Open source projects. Add AI capabilities to open source software without vendor dependencies. Community-driven development with transparent roadmap and governance.

Start Free, Scale as You Grow

Begin with OSS and upgrade to Enterprise only when you need compliance features.

1. Phase 1Start Free. Deploy OSS with core features: Failover, Load balancing, Caching, Virtual keys, Observability.
2. Phase 2Scale Up. Add features as you grow: Horizontal scaling, Custom plugins, Advanced routing, Community support.
3. Phase 3Go Enterprise. Upgrade when you need compliance: Guardrails, SSO, RBAC, Audit logs, Priority support.

Open Source & Enterprise

FAQ

Related resources

• [Source: OSS For Startups]
• [Docs: Bifrost docs]
• [GitHub: maximhq/bifrost]
• [Pricing: Bifrost pricing]
• [Enterprise: Bifrost enterprise]
• [Book a Demo: Bifrost demo]
• [Resources: Bifrost resources]