# Respan Gateway — AI Coding Tool Review & Pricing

> Respan Gateway is a single Rust binary that sits between your code and AI APIs. Point an existing OpenAI, Anthropic or Gemini SDK at it and it can call any configured model, translating streaming, tools and reasoning, while also exposing MCP tools, traffic control and a live log of every request.

Source: https://ai.dosa.dev/tools/respan-gateway · Updated Oct 24, 2026 · Category: Developer Productivity & Workflow · Published by dosa.dev

## At a glance

- **Tool**: Respan Gateway
- **Company**: Respan (YC W24)
- **Category**: [Developer Productivity & Workflow](https://ai.dosa.dev/category/productivity)
- **Pricing model**: Open Source
- **Official website**: https://respan.ai

## Key features

- Cross-format translation between OpenAI Chat Completions/Responses, Anthropic Messages and Gemini APIs
- MCP servers and built-in tools (search, browsing, code sandboxes, memory) usable from any chat request
- Routing, fallback, retries and hedged requests across providers
- Plugin system for guardrails, PII masking, pricing and custom logic
- Live request log with cost, latency and tokens, plus optional tracing in Respan

## Pricing

**Model**: Open Source

Self-hosted gateway is free and open source, dual-licensed MIT or Apache-2.0; Respan also offers a managed gateway and tracing platform.

## Who it is for

- **Best for**: Developers and platform teams building agents who want one self-hosted endpoint to swap models and providers without changing SDKs.
- **Not ideal for**: Individuals who just want a hosted multi-model API with consolidated billing, or teams unwilling to operate their own gateway.

## Verdict

A fast, well-featured open-source AI gateway whose MCP tool support and API translation make it a solid fit for agent and developer tooling stacks.

## Recent updates

Open-sourced in October 2026 with v0.1.0 and v0.2.0 releases, published on crates.io and PyPI, and launched on Hacker News.

## Frequently asked questions

### Is Respan Gateway free?

Yes - Respan Gateway is Open Source. Self-hosted gateway is free and open source, dual-licensed MIT or Apache-2.0; Respan also offers a managed gateway and tracing platform.

### Is Respan Gateway open source?

Yes - Respan Gateway is open source. Self-hosted gateway is free and open source, dual-licensed MIT or Apache-2.0; Respan also offers a managed gateway and tracing platform.

### Who is Respan Gateway best for?

Developers and platform teams building agents who want one self-hosted endpoint to swap models and providers without changing SDKs.

### Who is Respan Gateway not ideal for?

Individuals who just want a hosted multi-model API with consolidated billing, or teams unwilling to operate their own gateway.

### What are the best Respan Gateway alternatives?

The closest Respan Gateway alternatives on ai.dosa.dev are Pieces for Developers, agenttrace, Vibe Kanban - all listed under Developer Productivity & Workflow.

### Who makes Respan Gateway?

Respan Gateway is developed by Respan (YC W24). It is listed in the Developer Productivity & Workflow category on ai.dosa.dev.

## Top alternatives

- [Pieces for Developers](https://ai.dosa.dev/tools/pieces-for-developers) (Freemium) — Developers and teams who need to manage disparate workflow context, revisit past coding decisions, and maintain consistent documentation across multiple tools and projects.
- [agenttrace](https://ai.dosa.dev/tools/agenttrace) (Open Source) — Developers who need a privacy-conscious way to audit, monitor, and diagnose the behavior, costs, and performance of various AI coding agents locally.
- [Vibe Kanban](https://ai.dosa.dev/tools/vibe-kanban) (Free) — Solo developers and individual power users who need to run multiple AI coding agents in parallel while managing separate git worktrees and tasks locally.
- [ai-memory](https://ai.dosa.dev/tools/ai-memory) (Open Source) — Developers who frequently switch between multiple AI coding agents or machines and want a unified, persistent knowledge base that survives session ends and tool switches.
- [smolvm](https://ai.dosa.dev/tools/smolvm) (Open Source) — Running untrusted code, powering coding agents with persistent/resettable workspaces, and deploying portable VM-based workloads that require a real Linux kernel.
- [coop](https://ai.dosa.dev/tools/coop) (Open Source) — Security-conscious developers who want to run autonomous coding agents on real projects without risking host machine compromise.
- Full alternatives guide: https://ai.dosa.dev/tools/respan-gateway/alternatives