The direct integration model
Connecting directly to a model provider gives a team immediate access to that provider's complete API surface. It can be the simplest choice for an early product that uses one model and does not yet need centralized routing or governance.
What a gateway adds
A gateway introduces a stable application-facing layer across one or more providers.
- Unified credentials and access controls.
- Central usage, cost, and latency reporting.
- Health-aware routing and provider fallback.
- Shared budgets, rate limits, and policy enforcement.
- A smaller application integration surface.
Understand the tradeoffs
The gateway becomes part of the production path, so teams should evaluate its protocol coverage, latency, debugging evidence, and handling of provider-specific features. The right gateway should reduce operational complexity without making important behavior invisible.
Choose based on operational needs
Direct APIs remain practical for narrow, provider-specific workloads. A gateway becomes more valuable as a product adds models, teams, cost controls, resilience requirements, or the need to change supply paths without repeatedly modifying application code.
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