Onlist vs LiteLLM
When to use a self-hosted Python router vs a hosted marketplace. Operational cost, model coverage, billing surface.
LiteLLM for teams that want to own the routing layer in their own infra. Onlist for teams that want a hosted gateway with shared upstream relationships, reviews, and billing built in.
At a glance
| Onlist | LiteLLM | |
|---|---|---|
| Shape | Hosted gateway | Self-hosted Python proxy + SDK |
| Endpoint | https://onlist.io/v1 (hosted) | Your own deployment |
| SDK compat | OpenAI · Anthropic · Gemini | OpenAI · Anthropic · 100+ providers |
| Upstream auth | Onlist holds provider credentials | You hold provider credentials |
| Billing | Prepaid wallet, per call settlement | Whatever you build on top |
| Reviews | Real-usage ratings per provider | None (you operate it) |
| Failover | Layered trust signals + cooling | Configurable retry/fallback rules |
| Ops cost | Zero (hosted) | Server + monitoring + on-call |
What LiteLLM is
LiteLLM is an open-source Python library that exposes a unified OpenAI-compatible interface in front of any LLM provider. It can run as a library inside your app or as a proxy server you deploy yourself. It is widely used by teams that want to own their routing layer.
What Onlist is
Onlist is a hosted AI API marketplace. You connect with an API key, calls are routed across the marketplace's providers, billing is settled per call against a prepaid wallet. You do not operate any infrastructure.
These are not the same kind of product. The comparison is "rent or build" applied to the gateway layer.
When LiteLLM is the right call
- You want to own routing logic. Your team has opinions about which provider to use under which conditions, and wants those rules in code you control.
- You already operate Python infrastructure. Adding a LiteLLM proxy to your stack is incremental cost, not a new operational concern.
- You have direct provider relationships. You already hold API keys with each upstream and want to consolidate them behind a single gateway you run.
- Compliance demands you stay on-prem. Hosted gateways are off the table; LiteLLM lets you keep the routing layer inside your network.
When Onlist is the right call
- You want zero ops cost. No proxy to deploy, no API keys to rotate, no on-call rotation for the gateway layer.
- You want a marketplace of providers, not direct relationships. Onlist already has relationships with dozens of providers. You get them all behind one key.
- You care about reviews and transparency. Onlist surfaces per-provider ratings from paying users. LiteLLM has no such layer because it is not a marketplace.
- You want crypto-native billing. Stablecoin top-ups are first-class on Onlist.
You can use both
LiteLLM inside your application, pointed at Onlist as one of its upstream providers, is a perfectly reasonable architecture. You get LiteLLM's local routing flexibility and Onlist's marketplace economics. Configuration is the same as adding any OpenAI-compatible upstream.
What Onlist is not
Onlist is not a self-hosted alternative to LiteLLM. If you need to run a gateway inside your own VPC for compliance reasons, LiteLLM is the answer (or another self-hosted gateway), not Onlist.
Bottom line
LiteLLM is a library and self-hosted proxy. Onlist is a hosted marketplace. They solve adjacent but different problems. Teams that want maximum control build with LiteLLM. Teams that want maximum leverage out of a single integration use Onlist.