Same AI gateway capability, independent, no feature gating.
In May 2026 Portkey was acquired by Palo Alto Networks and now runs as the AI gateway inside the Prisma AIRS security platform. NemoRouter remains the independent agent control plane: every feature on every plan, bought directly from its builder, not bundled into a security suite. Credit-based billing, built-in guardrails, and zero BYOK ship on every tier, so your team trades a virtual-key header dance for one OpenAI-compatible base URL. Every claim below about Portkey cites its public docs and is dated.
What changes on day one
- Pro platform fee
- 0%
- Provider keys to manage
- 0
- Paywalled features
- None
- Migration time
- < 5 min
Pro ($50/mo or $500/yr) — charged on top, not carved out
We hold every credential — no BYOK
Every feature on every tier
Drop the virtual-key headers — base URL only
The capability matrix
Both gateways serve OpenAI-compatible APIs. The differences are pricing philosophy, feature gating, and provider-key ownership. Every marker is sourced below.
Comparison · sources verified July 2026
| Capability | NemoRouter | Portkey |
|---|---|---|
| Platform feeMarkup added on top of provider cost | 0 % – 4 %0 % – 4 %7 | Usage-basedUsage-based1 |
| Provider key managementWho holds the provider credentials | Fully managed (no BYOK)Fully managed (no BYOK)7 | BYOK requiredBYOK required2 |
| OpenAI-compatible API | Included | Included |
| Built-in guardrailsPII, prompt injection, content filter | Included7 | Plan-dependentPlan-dependent3 |
| Role-based team managementOwner / admin / member / viewer | 4 roles, every tier4 roles, every tier7 | Advanced RBAC on EnterpriseAdvanced RBAC on Enterprise4 |
| SSO / SAML | Every tierEvery tier7 | Enterprise planEnterprise plan4 |
| Audit logs | Every tierEvery tier7 | Enterprise planEnterprise plan4 |
| Built-in credit billingStripe-backed credit ledger with reserve + settle | Included | Not available5 |
| Per-team & per-key budgetsHard spend caps enforced in the request path | Hard caps, every tierHard caps, every tier7 | Rate limits documentedRate limits documented5 |
| Observability suiteLogs, latency percentiles, callbacks | Built-in, every tierBuilt-in, every tier7 | Available, plan-dependentAvailable, plan-dependent5 |
| Prompt managementVersioned templates + A/B variants | Templates + versioningTemplates + versioning7 | Prompt library / playgroundPrompt library / playground5 |
| Feature gating by tierAre core features paywalled? | Not available7 | Included4 |
| Contractual uptime SLA | 99.9 %99.9 %7 | Enterprise planEnterprise plan6 |
Sources & methodology
Competitor rows reflect each vendor's publicly documented plans and docs as last checked in July 2026; each cell links the specific source. Where a competitor's pricing or plan structure is not public, the cell describes the structure rather than quoting a figure — we never invent competitor pricing. Found something out of date? Email sales@nemorouter.ai and we'll correct it.
- Portkey publishes a usage-based / per-request gateway price with paid plans layered above a free tier. The fee structure is documented; specific figures are not quoted here because they vary by plan. Portkey pricing tiers · Portkey pricing page · verified July 2026
- Portkey operates on a bring-your-own-key model: you provision, rotate, and audit each provider credential. Virtual keys abstract usage but the underlying provider accounts remain yours. Portkey (all plans) · Portkey docs — virtual keys · verified July 2026
- Portkey documents guardrails as a product capability; availability of specific guardrail checks and the volume allowance vary by plan tier. Treat the cell as "available, plan-dependent" rather than "free". Portkey Pro / Enterprise · Portkey docs — guardrails · verified July 2026
- Portkey documents SSO/SAML, advanced RBAC, and audit logging as Enterprise-plan capabilities rather than features available on the free or entry paid plan. Portkey Enterprise · Portkey pricing — Enterprise plan · verified July 2026
- Portkey provides usage analytics and cost observability. It does not ship a built-in customer billing / credit ledger — teams wire up billing themselves. Portkey (all plans) · Portkey docs · verified July 2026
- Portkey publishes uptime targets for its paid/enterprise plans. A contractual SLA percentage is associated with higher tiers rather than the free plan. Portkey Enterprise · Portkey site · verified July 2026
- Nemo platform fee is charged on top of provider cost, never deducted from purchased credits. Every product feature ships on every tier — tiers differ only on fee percentage and RPM/TPM guarantee. NemoRouter pricing · NemoRouter pricing page · verified July 2026
Credits are the product, not an afterthought
NemoRouter is built around a Stripe-integrated credit ledger with atomic reserve-and-settle. Every API call deducts in real time, every failure releases the reservation, and budgets are enforced before a request leaves the gateway. Portkey has no built-in billing. You wire up cost tracking yourself.
- Atomic reserve+settle ledger
- Per-key / per-team / per-org budgets
- Auto-topup + 402 error path
Step 01 — pre-flight
Reserve
Credits reserved atomically before the request leaves. Budget caps enforced here, not after the fact.
Step 02 — request path
Forward
The call routes to the provider with guardrails applied. Every failure path releases the reservation.
Step 03 — settle
Settle
Actual provider cost settles against the reservation in real time: per key, per team, per org.
Frequently asked questions
Common questions about switching from Portkey to NemoRouter.
Is NemoRouter cheaper than Portkey?
It depends on which features you need. Portkey gates advanced governance (SSO, audit logs, advanced RBAC) to its Enterprise plan; NemoRouter includes them on every plan. NemoRouter charges Flat 4% pay-as-you-go with no minimum fee, or 0% on Pro ($50/mo, $500/yr). Always on top of provider cost, never deducted from credits. We do not quote Portkey's figures; see the sourced footnotes under the comparison table.
Can I switch from Portkey to NemoRouter?
Yes. Both NemoRouter and Portkey use the OpenAI-compatible API format. Change your base URL to https://api.nemorouter.ai/v1 and swap your API key. You can also drop Portkey's virtual-key headers. Migration takes under five minutes.
Does NemoRouter have observability like Portkey?
Yes, and it is genuine common ground. NemoRouter includes real-time request logging, cost tracking per model/team/key, latency percentiles, error-rate monitoring, and callbacks to Langfuse, Datadog, S3, and Slack. The difference is NemoRouter does not tier observability. It is included on every plan.
What does NemoRouter have that Portkey does not?
A Stripe-backed credit billing system with atomic reserve-and-settle, per-team and per-key budget caps enforced in the request path, and a fully-managed (no BYOK) provider-key model. NemoRouter also includes SSO/SAML and audit logs on every tier, where Portkey documents them on its Enterprise plan.
Is Portkey still independent after the Palo Alto Networks acquisition?
Palo Alto Networks completed its acquisition of Portkey on May 29, 2026, and Portkey now operates as the AI gateway inside the Prisma AIRS security platform (per Palo Alto Networks' May 2026 announcement). That is a good fit if you are standardizing on Prisma AIRS. NemoRouter is independent and stays that way: you buy the gateway directly from its builder, every feature ships on every plan, and there is no security-suite bundle to adopt to get budgets, guardrails, SSO, or audit logs.
Are all NemoRouter features really included on every tier?
Every product feature — guardrails, prompt management, A/B tests, evals, observability, RBAC, SSO/SAML, audit logs, per-team budgets, and priority support — ships on every tier. Tiers differ on exactly two axes: the platform-fee percentage (flat 4 % pay-as-you-go with no minimum fee, or 0 % on Pro) and the RPM/TPM guarantee. Nothing else is gated.
How current is this comparison?
Every Portkey row links the specific public page it is drawn from and a last-verified month (currently July 2026). Where Portkey's pricing or plan structure is not public, the cell describes the structure instead of quoting a figure. We never invent competitor pricing.
No BYOK · 5-minute migration
Why sign five contracts when one key runs them all?
NemoRouter replaces separate provider contracts, invoices, and rate limits: one OpenAI-compatible key for 240+ models, on a single bill. Less procurement, more shipping.
Need help moving over? sales@nemorouter.ai for white-glove migration.99.9% SLA