AI Gateway Overview

Helicone AI Gateway provides a unified API for 100+ LLM providers through the OpenAI SDK format. Instead of learning different SDKs and APIs for each provider, use one familiar interface to access any model with intelligent routing, automatic fallbacks, and complete observability built-in.

Why Use AI Gateway?#

How It Works#

The AI Gateway sits between your application and LLM providers, acting as a unified translation layer:

1. You make one request - Use the OpenAI SDK format, regardless of which provider you want
2. We translate & route - Helicone converts your request to the correct provider format (Anthropic, Google, etc.)
3. Provider responds - The LLM provider processes your request
4. We log & return - You get the response back while we capture metrics, costs, and errors

All through a single endpoint: https://ai-gateway.helicone.ai

Quick Example#

Add two lines to your existing OpenAI code to unlock 100+ models with automatic observability:

import { OpenAI } from "openai";const client = new OpenAI({  baseURL: "https://ai-gateway.helicone.ai",   apiKey: process.env.HELICONE_API_KEY, });const response = await client.chat.completions.create({  model: "gpt-4o",  // Or: claude-sonnet-4, gemini-2.0-flash, etc.  messages: [{ role: "user", content: "Hello!" }]});

Helicone vs OpenRouter#

Helicone offers a complete platform for production AI applications, while OpenRouter focuses on simple model access.

Next Steps#