Compare · verified 2026-10-12
Same governance job.
Self-serve at $49/mo.
No sales call, no Docker.
AgentCost (agentcost.in) sells the policy-engine job we sell — allow / deny / require_approval, approval workflows, budget enforcement, a gateway proxy. There's one structural difference: their governance tier is "Custom / Contact Sales." You cannot buy it without talking to a salesperson. This page is an honest comparison: where they win, where we win, and who should pick which.
Last checked 2026-10-12. Facts below were verified live on AgentCost's homepage, pricing section, docs, and GitHub this day. We correct errors fast — report one.
| AgentCost Community | AgentCost Enterprise | Agent Auth Gateway | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Governance you can buy today, self-serve | No — tracking only, no policy enforcement | No — "Custom / Contact Sales" | YES — Pro $49/mo |
| Policy engine · allow / deny / require_approval | — | ✓ (JSON rules, priority order) | ✓ allowlists + denylists + risk tiers on every call |
| Human approval queue | — | ✓ (dashboard/API approvals) | ✓ dashboard + signed email links — no login needed |
| What actions are governed | LLM calls — token spend | Agent actions — verbs like pay, delete, send_email, deploy (verbs, not tokens) | |
| Kill switch per agent | none found in their public content | ✓ one click / one API call, denies everything instantly | |
| Budget enforcement | ✓ gates | ✓ 4-stage pipeline: warn → downgrade → block | ✓ daily + monthly caps, burn forecast, auto-throttle |
| Cost forecasting depth | ✓ wins 7/14/30-day predictions, exhaustion dates, routing optimizer, 2,610-model pricing DB | Burn forecast + auto-throttle (Pro) | |
| Open source / self-hosted | ✓ wins MIT Community, Docker-first ("Three commands. Five minutes."), air-gapped guide | Hosted SaaS — no self-hosting; you run nothing | |
| Integrations | ✓ wins Python + TypeScript SDKs, LangChain / CrewAI / AutoGen / LlamaIndex, OpenTelemetry, Prometheus, MCP server, VSCode | 3-line REST snippet — simpler, thinner | |
| Audit logs | — | ✓ PostgreSQL + hash-chained | ✓ full evaluation log, CSV export (Team) |
| Enterprise checklist · SSO/SAML, multi-tenant, air-gap | — | ✓ | — (Team covers seats + audit export) |
| Onboarding | pip install agentcostin + wrap your client + run the stack yourself | 3-line snippet against our hosted proxy | |
| Price | $0 forever | Custom / Contact Sales — no public price | $0 / $49/mo / $149/mo |
Where AgentCost wins
Forecasting, OSS, integrations
- Cost-forecasting depth. 7/14/30-day predictions with budget-exhaustion dates, complexity-based routing, downgrade optimizer with savings estimates, vendored 2,610-model pricing database. Our burn forecast is directionally similar but thinner.
- Open source you can self-host. MIT-licensed Community tier, Docker-first, air-gapped deployment guide. If your policy requires data to never leave your network, that's a real argument.
- Ecosystem integrations. Framework callbacks, OTel ingest/export, Prometheus, an MCP server with 14 tools, a plugin system. We're a 3-line snippet by comparison.
- Content engine. Deep technical essays and named-competitor comparison pages — a content surface we openly envy and are now answering.
Where Agent Auth Gateway wins
The purchase, the verbs, the humans
- You can actually buy it. Their policy engine, approvals and gateway proxy are "Custom / Contact Sales" — no public price, no checkout, no trial. Our Pro ($49/mo) includes all of that, purchasable in minutes.
- Verbs, not tokens. AgentCost governs LLM calls. We govern agent actions: allowlist/denylist on delete, pay, send_email, deploy — plus risk tiers that escalate dangerous verbs to a human.
- A kill switch with teeth. One click disables an agent; every later check denies with the reason on record. We found no equivalent in their public content.
- Approvals without the login. Held actions approve or deny from a signed email link — no dashboard session required. Approve from your phone in seconds.
- No infra to run. Hosted SaaS, three-line snippet, no Docker, no self-hosting. The Free tier ($0) already ships caps, denylist, kill switch and the full log.
The wedge
Portkey governs your tokens.
We govern your agent's actions.
Token-level gateways meter what your agent spends. We decide what your agent is allowed to do — and when a human must sign off. As AgentCost's own comparison admits: "Portkey's guardrails block or allow — there is no approval workflow." That's the layer we are.
Verified facts about AgentCost
2026-10-12- Pricing page (live): Community $0/forever (MIT) vs Enterprise "Custom" — CTA is "Contact Sales." Governance features (policy engine, approvals, budget enforcement, gateway proxy, anomaly detection) exist only in the Custom tier.
- GitHub: 7 stars, 2 forks, 60 commits, repo created 2026-03-03 — a small, founder-led project.
- Homepage headline: "AI Cost Governance for Engineering Teams" — "real-time cost visibility, automatic budget controls, and intelligent model routing. One line of code. Zero config."
- Case study: their own docs page is explicitly labeled "based on composite scenarios" — no named customers anywhere on the site.
- Reviews: no G2, Capterra, or Trustpilot listings found; no Reddit or X discussion found.
- Demo: a "live chaos simulator" is referenced in their blog/README; its live status could not be confirmed on 2026-10-12.
Frequently asked questions
Is this the same thing as AgentCost?
Overlapping job, different layer: they govern token spend; we govern what your agent is allowed to DO. The practical difference is the purchase — their governance is contact-sales; ours is self-serve at $49/mo.
Can I buy AgentCost's governance features self-serve?
No — verified 2026-10-12. Policy engine, approval workflows, budget enforcement and the AI gateway proxy are Enterprise-only, sold as "Custom / Contact Sales." The free Community tier is self-hosted OSS without governance.
Where is AgentCost the better pick?
If forecasting depth is the job (exhaustion dates, routing, savings estimates), if you must self-host (MIT, Docker, air-gap), or if you need their ecosystem integrations — pick AgentCost Community or talk to their sales team. We say so openly.
How does this compare to Portkey?
Portkey governs your tokens. We govern your agent's actions. Their own comparison admits Portkey's guardrails "block or allow — there is no approval workflow." Our approval queue, kill switch and action allowlists are that missing layer.
How much does Agent Auth Gateway cost?
Free $0 forever (1 agent, caps, denylist, kill switch, full log). Pro $49/mo (10 agents, approval queue, signed email approvals, webhooks, burn forecast, simulator). Team $149/mo (unlimited agents, 5 seats, audit export, anomaly lockdown).
Can I try the policy engine before buying?
Yes — the policy playground runs our real policy engine in your browser: paste an action log (or pick the "runaway pay loop" preset) and watch it return allow / deny / require_approval verdicts. No signup.
Fact sheet last checked 2026-10-12 · AgentCost and the AgentCost mark belong to their owner; this page is an independent comparison.