Where LiteLLM fits
LiteLLM is the strongest choice when you want an open-source unifying layer you fully control. If you already hold provider contracts, need to reach niche or self-hosted models, want to run the gateway inside your own VPC for compliance, and value a Python-native SDK plus a language-agnostic proxy with budgets and virtual keys, LiteLLM is built for exactly that. There is no inference lock-in — it simply standardises how your code calls whatever providers you configure.
Where Kunavo wins
Kunavo removes both the provider accounts and the ops. There is nothing to deploy: top up one wallet and call Claude, Gemini, GPT, plus image, video and audio, below each provider's list price depending on the model — no Anthropic Console, no Google Cloud project, no proxy to host and monitor, one balance. Generation endpoints are first-class, the native Anthropic Messages API is on the same key, and checkout is Stripe-native with local methods. Where LiteLLM gives you a gateway to run, Kunavo gives you a gateway to call.
How to pick (or use both)
Pick LiteLLM if you want an open-source, self-hosted gateway over provider keys you already manage, or need niche/self-hosted model coverage inside your own infrastructure. Pick Kunavo if you want zero-ops hosted inference on one prepaid wallet below list, first-class multimodal, and one balance to reconcile. They compose: register Kunavo as an OpenAI-compatible provider in LiteLLM (base URL https://api.kunavo.com/v1) to keep LiteLLM's routing and budgets while your tokens run through Kunavo's discounted catalog.
How you pay: LiteLLM vs Kunavo
LiteLLM is software rather than a merchant, so the payment question does not disappear — it moves one layer down. Kunavo's checkout is Stripe-native, so the list follows the buyer rather than our billing country: cards (Visa, Mastercard, Amex, JCB, UnionPay) and Apple Pay everywhere Stripe reaches, Link and Cash App Pay for one-tap repeat top-ups, Klarna and Amazon Pay, and Alipay and WeChat Pay for mainland China. Local rails appear by country — Pix in Brazil, Bancontact in Belgium, BLIK in Poland, EPS in Austria, MB WAY in Portugal — with Stripe converting the dollar amount into local currency on the checkout page, so a Brazilian buyer scans a Pix QR code for an amount in reais instead of hunting for a card cleared for international purchases. There is nothing to pay LiteLLM for beyond the servers you run it on; the money goes to each provider you configure. “Can I pay with Pix” therefore becomes “can I pay Anthropic with Pix”, and then the same question again for OpenAI and for Google — three accounts, three consoles, three card requirements. Kunavo collapses that into a single checkout, which is worth the most in exactly the places where an internationally-cleared card is hardest to get.