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Gatekeeper vs OpenRouter
OpenRouter is a cloud SaaS that routes your AI requests through their infrastructure. Gatekeeper is self-hosted — your requests never leave your infra.
Gatekeeper: Self-Hosted
- Your requests go directly to providers
- No third-party sees your prompts
- No markup on provider costs
- Custom routing logic in config
- HIPAA and regulated workloads
OpenRouter: Cloud SaaS
- Requests pass through OpenRouter servers
- Your prompts visible to third party
- ~3% markup on provider pricing
- Fixed routing rules only
- Not suitable for regulated industries
Your data never leaves your infra.
With Gatekeeper, requests travel: Your app → Gatekeeper (your server) → Provider directly. OpenRouter inserts their cloud between you and the provider.
| Feature | Gatekeeper | OpenRouter |
|---|---|---|
| Self-hosted | ||
| Data leaves your infra | Never | Always |
| Routing overhead | Routing target | 2Routing target+ |
| Custom routing logic | ||
| ZK identity | ||
| Ed25519 key signing | ||
| API key delegation | ||
| CRDT rate limiting | ||
| RBAC | Free | Paid plan |
| Audit logs | Limited | |
| No data retention default | ||
| Open source | Apache 2.0 | |
| Provider count | Target providers | Broad catalog |
| Cost markup | Reviewed during onboarding | Review |
| Compliance scope | Enterprise discovery | |
| Custom model routing DSL | ||
| On-premise deployment | ||
| Mesh transport (NATS) |
When OpenRouter Makes Sense
OpenRouter is a great choice if you're a solo developer who wants access to target models without managing infrastructure. If you don't have sensitive data and want the largest model catalog with zero setup, OpenRouter is the easier path.
Gatekeeper is the right choice when you want assisted review of sensitive-data boundaries, provider-cost pass-through, and custom routing logic your team controls.