alternatives/Vellum
Vellum alternative

AIgateway: the best Vellum alternative in 2026

The best Vellum alternative in 2026 is AIgateway. Vellum is a visual prompt + workflow builder aimed at product teams; AIgateway is a developer-first inference gateway — OpenAI-compatible, 100+ models, every modality, sub-accounts, evals, replay — with no vendor-specific workflow DSL.

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Feature comparison

AIgateway vs Vellum

Side-by-side on the dimensions that move a production decision.

Feature
AIgateway
Vellum
Visual workflow builder
No — code-first
Yes
OpenAI SDK compat
Yes
Proprietary SDK primary
Modality coverage
Every modality
Text + some image
Seat fees
None
Yes
Sub-account API
Yes
Limited
Edge latency
47ms p50
Regional

Feature comparison reflects public documentation as of 2026. Vellum pricing shape: Seat-based SaaS.. Catalog: Proxies upstream providers for execution..

Migrate in 5 minutes

Three steps. One base URL.

If you're on Vellum through the OpenAI SDK, you're 90% of the way there. Change the base URL and the key.

STEP 01

Sign up for AIgateway

Create an account at aigateway.sh/signin and copy an sk-aig-... key from the dashboard.

STEP 02

Swap base URL + key

from openai import OpenAI

client = OpenAI(
    base_url="https://api.aigateway.sh/v1",
    api_key="sk-aig-...",
)
STEP 03

Ship

Request shape, response shape, streaming SSE — identical to OpenAI. Model slugs map 1:1 on shared providers. Vellum users typically migrate in under 5 minutes.

4 other alternatives

Other Vellum alternatives worth checking

Honest take: here are four other credible options. None ship the full multi-modal catalog + sub-accounts + evals under one key, but each has a legit wedge.

FAQ

Common questions about Vellum alternatives

Is Vellum open source?
No — Vellum is a closed-source SaaS platform. AIgateway is closed-source but OpenAI-compatible.
Does Vellum charge seat fees?
Yes — Vellum is seat-based. AIgateway charges 5% at top-up with no seat fees.
Is Vellum or AIgateway better for engineers?
AIgateway is code-first and OpenAI-compatible — no DSL, no vendor lock-in. Vellum targets product teams who want a visual builder.
Does Vellum support video, music, or voice?
Vellum focuses on text + some image. AIgateway supports every modality first-class.
Can I use the OpenAI SDK with Vellum?
Partially — Vellum has an OpenAI-compat endpoint for certain workflows. AIgateway is OpenAI-compat end-to-end.
Does AIgateway have a free tier?
Yes — 100 req/day on Kimi K2.6 with no card required.
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