Meter vs LiteLLM for Claude Code
LiteLLM is an open-source gateway to over a hundred model providers, with virtual keys and budgets. Meter is built for Claude Code in a team. Here is the difference, and when LiteLLM is the better choice.
| What we compare | LiteLLM | Meter |
|---|---|---|
| Spend per developer | YesBy virtual key, user or team. | YesBy each developer’s Meter key, with no headers from the client. |
| Spend per repository | PartlyNot built in; requests can be tagged by hand. | YesAutomatically, from the agent’s working directory or an X-Meter-Repo header. |
| A spend limit that stops a developer | YesPer key, user or team, with a reset period; over budget is refused. Needs a database. | PartlyA monthly budget per team and per developer: warns on every plan, blocks on Control. |
| Security flags on agent actions | NoNot documented. | YesAccess to .env and keys, pushes to protected branches, destructive git, exfiltration. |
| Approval of risky actions | NoNot documented. | YesAn admin approves from the dashboard; on the Control plan. |
| Rules on agent actions | PartlyA tool-permission guardrail with regex. Open issues: #40583 — it can’t see MCP tools in /v1/messages format; #32201 — it doesn’t block on pass-through. | PartlyRepository and path rules at the gateway: a guard against mistakes, not deliberate evasion. |
| Doesn’t store prompt and response text | YesStores metadata only by default. | YesMetadata, and the paths and commands from tool calls, with secrets masked. |
| SSO sign-in | PartlyFree up to 5 users, then Enterprise. | NoNot yet: email and password, Google or GitHub. |
| Model providers | YesOver 100 providers, load balancing and fallbacks. | PartlyThe Anthropic API and Ollama cloud. |
| Claude Pro, Max subscriptions | YesDocuments routing Max subscription traffic. | NoAPI keys only. |
| Deployment | YesSelf-hosted, open source (MIT); Enterprise by arrangement. | YesHosted, or self-hosted with a Helm chart. |
Choose LiteLLM if
- you need one gateway for many providers — OpenAI, Bedrock, Vertex and more — with load balancing and fallbacks;
- budgets per key, user or team are enough, and you’re happy to run the gateway and its database — free in the open-source edition;
- your team runs on a Max subscription;
- you need SSO and five admin users is enough.
Choose Meter if
- you need spend by repository without hand-made tags;
- you want flags on .env access, pushes to main or rewritten history — and approval of such actions;
- you don’t want to write regex rules on tools and track open issues about where they don’t fire;
- you’d rather use a hosted service than run a gateway and a database.
Use both
If LiteLLM already routes your other providers, Claude Code can go through Meter on its own: a developer changes only ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL.