---
title: "What AI recommended for llm gateways in September 2026"
description: "What AI recommends for llm gateways, updated monthly: which tools Claude · Claude Haiku 4.5, Claude · Claude Opus 4.8, Claude · Claude Sonnet 4.6, ChatGPT, Venice · DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731, Venice · Gemini 3.6 Flash, Venice · Kimi K2.6, Venice · Llama 3.3 70B, Venice · Qwen 3.7 Plus and Venice · GLM 5.2 named in September 2026 when developers asked \"What LLM gateway should I use?\", cross-referenced with what developers say about them."
source: https://backtalk.sh/ai-recommends/llm-gateways/2026-09
---

# What AI recommends for llm gateways (September 2026)

When developers ask "What LLM gateway should I use?", this is what Claude · Claude Haiku 4.5, Claude · Claude Opus 4.8, Claude · Claude Sonnet 4.6, ChatGPT, Venice · DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731, Venice · Gemini 3.6 Flash, Venice · Kimi K2.6, Venice · Llama 3.3 70B, Venice · Qwen 3.7 Plus and Venice · GLM 5.2 answer, measured over 530 sampled answers across 4 probe runs. Share of voice is the percentage of sampled answers naming the tool; the dev pulse is the sentiment of the same month's developer mentions on Hacker News, Reddit, GitHub, Stack Overflow, Bluesky and more.

| # | Tool | AI share of voice | Change vs prior month | Named by | Dev pulse |
|---|------|------------------:|----------------------:|----------|-----------|
| 1 | LiteLLM | 0.3% | -25.2 pts | ChatGPT | not tracked |
| 2 | OpenRouter | 0.3% | -21.7 pts | ChatGPT | quiet (net +0) |
| 3 | Portkey | 0.3% | -21.6 pts | ChatGPT | not tracked |
| 4 | Cloudflare AI Gateway | 0.2% | -13.9 pts | ChatGPT | not tracked |
| 5 | Helicone | 0.2% | -11.1 pts | ChatGPT | not tracked |
| 6 | Kong AI Gateway | 0% | -11 pts | none this month | not tracked |

Biggest mover: LiteLLM (-25.2 pts vs the previous month).

> Averaged equally across 10 AI models, LiteLLM is named in 0.3% of answers about llm gateways (1 of 10 name it).

Source: BackTalk AI Recommendation Standings, September 2026 · https://backtalk.sh/ai-recommends/llm-gateways/2026-09

## The prompts behind these standings

- What LLM gateway should I use? (recommendation)
- What are the best LiteLLM alternatives? (alternatives)
- Which AI gateway is best for routing across models? (recommendation)

## Method

These September 2026 standings are final and never change; cite them by permalink. Full methodology: https://backtalk.sh/ai-recommends/methodology (as markdown: https://backtalk.sh/ai-recommends/methodology.md). Free to cite with attribution to "BackTalk AI Recommendation Standings" and a link.