Gatewayz vs Direct APIs

    Gatewayz vs calling providers directly: going direct is the shortest path to one vendor's models. Gatewayz adds one key and one model-agnostic endpoint across providers, at the cost of one extra hop.

    How they compare

    • Latency

      Gatewayz: One additional network hop between your agent and the provider.

      Direct APIs: The shortest possible path. If every millisecond matters and you use one vendor, this wins.

    • Model choice

      Gatewayz: Models from OpenAI, Anthropic, xAI and Moonshot on one key. Switching is a one-word change to the model id.

      Direct APIs: One vendor's models per account; another vendor means another integration and another bill.

    • Model resolution

      Gatewayz: The model you name, or a 400 model_not_found. Never a substitute.

      Direct APIs: The model you name.

    • Errors agents can act on

      Gatewayz: Terminal conditions return terminal statuses: 402 insufficient_credits, 402 request_cap_exhausted, 400 model_not_found.

      Direct APIs: Each provider's own error format and retry semantics, which differ from vendor to vendor.

    • Prompt caching

      Gatewayz: Passed through on the native Anthropic Messages endpoint.

      Direct APIs: Native.

    • Price

      Gatewayz: The provider's list price plus a routing fee, from one credit balance.

      Direct APIs: The provider's list price, billed by each provider separately.

    • Vendor relationship

      Gatewayz: Gatewayz is an intermediary between you and the provider.

      Direct APIs: Direct. Some teams have procurement or compliance reasons to hold that relationship themselves, and that's a good reason to skip any gateway.