LiteLLM vs. AssemblyAI

Learn why teams choose AssemblyAI’s managed LLM Gateway over standing up and running LiteLLM themselves:

0% markup on a fully managed API—no proxy, database, or DevOps to run
Native speech-to-text in the same pipeline—apply any LLM to your audio, no second vendor
Automatic fallbacks, EU data residency, and opt-in zero data retention, managed for you

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At a glance: LiteLLM vs. AssemblyAI

Model

AssemblyAI LLM Gateway

LiteLLM

Pricing

0% markup, fully managed

Free OSS + your own infra cost

Deployment

Managed API—nothing to run

Self-hosted proxy (Postgres, Redis, ops)

Models

25+ curated production models

100+ providers

Speech-to-text

First-party models—no extra hop

Proxy to third-party ASR

Automatic fallbacks

Configurable per-model

EU data residency

Default-on for EU traffic

Your infrastructure

Zero data retention

Opt-in, per request

Your infrastructure

BAA available

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OpenAI SDK compatible

A managed gateway, without the infrastructure to run

Fully managed API

No proxy to deploy, no database or Redis to run, no upgrades to schedule. Call one hosted endpoint and ship—the infrastructure is ours to operate.

0% markup

Pay provider token rates with no gateway markup and no minimum commitment. The price you see is the price you pay.

Automatic fallbacks

Configure a primary model and any number of backups per request. If a provider errors or rate-limits, the Gateway retries the next model—no code changes.

Native speech-to-text

Transcribe with AssemblyAI’s own speech models and apply any LLM to the result in one pipeline—no second vendor and no extra network hop.

25+ frontier models

GPT, Claude, Gemini, Qwen, Mistral, and more behind one OpenAI-compatible API. New models are added the day they launch.

OpenAI-compatible

Drop into any OpenAI SDK or HTTP client. Change a base URL and a model string, and the rest of your code keeps working.

EU data residency & ZDR

EU-resident infrastructure on by default for EU traffic, plus opt-in zero data retention per request—managed for you, not left to your ops team.

BAA available

Sign a Business Associate Addendum for applications that process PHI, backed by SOC 2 Type 2, ISO 27001, PCI DSS, and GDPR.

Start building

Get your free API key and make your first Gateway call in minutes—no infrastructure to stand up.

Live demo

Pick a model. Take action on your audio.

The same transcript, four different jobs, four different models — all routed through one endpoint.

Prompt

What is runner's knee?

claude-opus-4-7 412 ms · 47 tokens

Based on the transcript, runner's knee is a condition characterized by pain behind or around the kneecap. It is caused by overuse, muscle imbalance and inadequate stretching. Symptoms include pain under or around the kneecap and pain when walking.

Stop operating a gateway. Start calling one.

Skip the proxy, the database, and the on-call rotation. Get a managed, OpenAI-compatible API with 0% markup and native speech-to-text.

Get your API key

Playground

We’re not playing around—but you can

Put our Voice AI models and the LLM Gateway to the test in our no-code playground.

Explore Playground

Frequently asked questions

: AssemblyAI’s LLM Gateway is a fully managed, OpenAI-compatible API you call directly, while LiteLLM is an open-source SDK and proxy you deploy and operate yourself. With AssemblyAI there is no proxy, database, or upgrades to run. LiteLLM is free and highly flexible, but you own the infrastructure, scaling, and uptime.
: LiteLLM’s software is free, but self-hosting has a real total cost: compute, a Postgres database, Redis, monitoring, and DevOps time—independent estimates put production self-hosting around $2,000 per month. AssemblyAI’s Gateway is 0% markup on tokens with no infrastructure to run, and its managed tiers start well below a self-hosted team’s ongoing operating cost.
: No. AssemblyAI’s LLM Gateway is a hosted API you call directly—there is nothing to deploy. LiteLLM’s open-source proxy is designed to be self-hosted, and its managed and enterprise tiers start around $250 per month.
: AssemblyAI, because it runs its own speech-to-text models and applies any LLM to the transcript in one pipeline—no second vendor and no extra network hop. LiteLLM can proxy to third-party ASR providers, but it has no first-party speech model of its own.
: Yes. Configure a primary model and any number of fallbacks per request, and the Gateway retries the next model automatically if the primary fails. LiteLLM also supports fallbacks, retries, and load balancing—the difference is that AssemblyAI runs and tunes that reliability layer for you.
: Yes. EU data residency is on by default for EU traffic, zero data retention is available per request, and AssemblyAI can sign a Business Associate Addendum (BAA) for workloads that process PHI. With self-hosted LiteLLM, EU residency, ZDR, and HIPAA responsibilities fall to you, and there is generally no vendor BAA.