SHSelfHostIndex

LiteLLM vs One API

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 ON One API Unified OpenAI-compatible gateway for many LLM providers
FeatureLiteLLMOne API
CategoryLocal LLM RunnersLocal LLM Runners
LicenseMITMIT
LanguagePythonJavaScript
Setup difficultyMediumMedium
Min. RAM1,024 MB256 MB
Deploymentdocker, kubernetes, bare-metaldocker, binary
GitHub stars★ 55,843★ 36,253
First released20232023
ReplacesOpenRouterOpenAI API, OpenRouter

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 One API if…

  • Released under the MIT license
  • First-class Docker support for quick deployment
  • Mature project with 36.3k GitHub stars
  • Written in JavaScript
One API details

Frequently asked questions

Is LiteLLM or One API 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 One API free and open-source?

Yes. LiteLLM is licensed under MIT and One API under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run LiteLLM and One API with Docker?

LiteLLM: yes. One API: yes.

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