Compare
How we stack up
There are other tools in this space. Here's an honest look at how iri compares.
At a glance
Quick comparison
| Feature | iri | Helicone | Portkey | LiteLLM | Cloudflare |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-execution budget enforcement | partial | partial | |||
| Drop-in setup (no code changes) | partial | ||||
| Per-user spending limits | |||||
| Team/org management | partial | partial | |||
| Model downgrade policies | |||||
| Managed service | |||||
| Open source option | |||||
| Free tier |
The details
How we differ
vs Helicone
Great for monitoring. We add enforcement.
Helicone shows you what you spent. iri can stop you from spending it. Their strength is observability and debugging; ours is prevention and control. If you just need visibility, Helicone is solid. If you need to enforce budgets before overspending happens, that's us.
vs Portkey
They do everything. We do one thing well.
Portkey supports 1,600+ models with routing, caching, fallbacks, and more. It's powerful but complex. We're focused specifically on cost control and visibility. If you need a swiss army knife, consider Portkey. If you want simple, effective cost management, we're easier to set up and use.
vs LiteLLM
Open source vs managed.
LiteLLM is excellent if you want to self-host and have infrastructure expertise. It's free and flexible. We're a managed service—no servers to run, no maintenance, works in five minutes. Different trade-offs for different teams.
vs Cloudflare AI Gateway
Feature vs product.
Cloudflare's gateway is a feature within their ecosystem. It's good for caching and basic analytics if you're already on Cloudflare. We're a standalone product built specifically for cost management, with deeper organizational features like team policies and per-user tracking.
vs Datadog/Finout
Specialized vs general-purpose.
These are broad observability or FinOps platforms that added AI features. We're purpose-built for AI cost management. They're better if you want one dashboard for everything. We're better if you want deep, proactive control over AI spending specifically.
Why choose iri
What we do best
Prevention, not just reporting
Budget limits that actually stop spending before the API call.
Five-minute setup
Swap your endpoint. Works with Cursor, Claude Code, any OpenAI client.
Built for teams
Per-user limits, team policies, role-based access, audit logs.
Transparent pricing
See what it costs before you sign up. Free tier included.
Being honest
Where others win
Model coverage
Portkey supports 1,600+ models. We focus on the majors.
Self-hosting
LiteLLM and BricksLLM let you run it yourself. We're SaaS-only.
Enterprise credibility
Cloudflare and Datadog have brand recognition we don't have yet.
Advanced routing
Portkey's semantic caching and smart routing is more sophisticated.