Top LLM Routing Tools in 2025: How Bifrost, LiteLLM and Others Compare

LLM routing tools act as middleware that directs AI inference requests across multiple model providers, reducing reliance on any single API endpoint. Bifrost, an open-source Go-based gateway by Maxim AI, leads the field by adding only 11 microseconds of latency at 5,000 requests per second while handling routing, governance, and tool orchestration. Alternatives such as LiteLLM, Kong AI Gateway, Cloudflare AI Gateway, and OpenRouter each offer distinct trade-offs in areas like Python integration, edge delivery, and zero-ops model catalogs. Key evaluation criteria for production deployments include routing flexibility, runtime latency overhead, failover resilience, cost controls, and whether the tool can run inside a private VPC or at the edge. The right choice ultimately depends on a team's deployment topology, data residency requirements, and operational complexity tolerance.