SHSelfHostIndex

LiteLLM vs LLMKube

A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted local llm runners options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.

Not the right match-up?
LI LiteLLM Unified proxy and gateway for 100+ LLM APIs VS LL LLMKube Kubernetes operator for llama.cpp-native LLM inference with GPU
FeatureLiteLLMLLMKube
CategoryLocal LLM RunnersLocal LLM Runners
LicenseMITApache-2.0
LanguagePythonGo
Setup difficultyMediumMedium
Min. RAM1,024 MB512 MB
Deploymentdocker, kubernetes, bare-metaldocker, kubernetes
GitHub stars★ 55,843★ 186
First released20232026
ReplacesOpenRouter—

Why pick each one

Choose LiteLLM if…

  • Released under the MIT license
  • First-class Docker support for quick deployment
  • Kubernetes-ready with Helm charts available
  • Mature project with 55.8k GitHub stars
LiteLLM details

Choose LLMKube if…

  • Released under the Apache-2.0 license
  • First-class Docker support for quick deployment
  • Kubernetes-ready with Helm charts available
  • Written in Go
LLMKube details

Frequently asked questions

Is LiteLLM or LLMKube better?

Neither is universally better. LiteLLM has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.

Are LiteLLM and LLMKube free and open-source?

Yes. LiteLLM is licensed under MIT and LLMKube under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run LiteLLM and LLMKube with Docker?

LiteLLM: yes. LLMKube: yes.

Related comparisons