Dify vs Portkey (2026): Pricing, Features & Verdict
Portkey is our pick, scoring 7.8/10 against 7.3/10 for Dify on our AI Software criteria. Its biggest advantage: higher Analytics score (9/10 vs 6/10). For 10 users, Portkey is free, against $159/mo for Dify; both Dify and Portkey have a free plan.
Last updated: November 2026
Dify
7.3/10
Open-source platform for building LLM apps, agents, RAG knowledge pipelines and visual AI workflows, available as cloud SaaS or self-hosted.
Portkey
7.8/10
Portkey is an AI gateway and LLMOps control plane that routes, monitors, and governs requests to 1,600+ LLMs for engineering teams and enterprises.
Feature-by-Feature Comparison
| Feature | | |
|---|---|---|
| Scores | ||
| Overall Rating | 7.3/10 | 7.8/10 |
| Integration | 7/10 | 9/10 |
| Analytics | 6/10 | 9/10 |
| Customization | 9/10 | 7/10 |
| Ease of Use | 7/10 | 8/10 |
| Support | 6/10 | 6/10 |
| Cost | 8/10 | 7/10 |
| Scalability | 6/10 | 8/10 |
| Security | 8/10 | 8/10 |
| Output Quality | 7/10 | Not listed |
| Pricing | ||
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Cheapest paid plan | $59/mo Professional | $49/mo Production |
| Estimated cost for 10 users | $159/mo Team | Free Open Source |
| Features | ||
| AI Agents | Not listed | |
| API Access | Not listed | |
| Chatbots | Not listed | |
| Enterprise Controls | Not listed | |
| Knowledge Base Search | Not listed | |
| Private Deployment | Not listed | |
| Text Generation | Not listed | |
| Workflow Automation | Not listed | |
| More features | ||
| API and CLI | Not listed | |
| Managed WordPress | Not listed | |
| Object Storage | Not listed | |
| Uptime SLA | Not listed | |
| Dedicated Servers | Not listed | |
| VPS Hosting | Not listed | |
| Shared Hosting | Not listed | |
Dify vs Portkey cost by team size
Dify and Portkey cost the same at 1 user; Portkey costs less from 5 users.
| Team size | Dify | Portkey |
|---|---|---|
| 1 user | FreeSandbox | FreeOpen Source |
| 5 users | $159/moTeam | FreeOpen Source |
| 10 users | $159/moTeam | FreeOpen Source |
| 25 users | $159/moTeam | FreeOpen Source |
| 50 users | $159/moTeam | FreeOpen Source |
The plan that fits each team size, billed monthly, before add-ons and usage charges. Each cost opens that tool's pricing calculator for the team size.
Who Dify and Portkey suit
Dify fits startups better; Portkey fits saas companies better.
| Audience | Dify | Portkey |
|---|---|---|
| SaaS Companies | 6/10API endpoints and embeds let software companies ship AI features to customers. | 8/10Built for teams running production GenAI features across multiple LLM providers. |
| Startups | 9/10The free self-hosted edition and low-cost cloud plans suit teams prototyping AI MVPs quickly. | 7/10A free tier and a $49 Production plan keep the entry cost low. |
| Developers | 9/10It is an open-source LLM app platform with an API, self-hosting and support for many model providers. | 9/10Setup takes a few lines of code with OpenAI-compatible SDKs, and there is a free tier and an open-source gateway. |
| Enterprise | 8/10The Enterprise edition offers VPC or self-hosted deployment, SSO, RBAC and audit logs, and Dify names large customers such as Maersk and Volvo. | 8/10The Enterprise plan adds SSO, RBAC, VPC deployment, and HIPAA/SOC 2 support, and the product is now part of Palo Alto Networks' Prisma AIRS. |
| Agencies | 5/10Teams can publish chatbots as embeds or web apps, which could be built for clients. | Not rated |
| Consultancies | 7/10Visual workflows and self-hosting let consultancies build and hand off client AI apps. | Not rated |
| Customer Support Teams | 5/10A review describes building a RAG support workflow with human handoff in under an hour. | Not rated |
| Freelancers | 5/10The free Community Edition and free Sandbox tier lower the cost for individuals. | Not rated |
| IT Teams | 6/10Self-hosting with Docker or Helm, SSO, RBAC and audit logs support internal deployment. | Not rated |
| Mid-Market | 7/10The Team plan supports 50 members and 200 apps, which fits internal AI tooling. | Not rated |
| Small Business | 6/10It is affordable, but it still needs technical skills to build apps and integrate them. | Not rated |
Which One Should You Choose?
Why choose Dify
- Higher Customization score (9/10 vs 7/10)
- Higher Cost score (8/10 vs 7/10)
- Better fit for startups (9/10 vs 7/10)
Why choose Portkey
- Lower estimated cost for 10 users: Free vs $159/mo
- Higher Analytics score (9/10 vs 6/10)
- Higher Integration score (9/10 vs 7/10)
- Better fit for saas companies (8/10 vs 6/10)
Pros & Cons
Dify
Pros
- The Community Edition is free to self-host with no license fees, so the only costs are infrastructure and model APIs.
- The visual workflow builder lets a team build a RAG support workflow with human handoff in under an hour, according to one review.
- Document ingestion, chunking, embedding and retrieval are handled in a single interface.
- Teams can switch between many model providers per node, including local models via Ollama.
- Apps can be published as web apps, embeds, APIs or MCP tools.
Cons
- Self-hosting needs Docker or Kubernetes skills, and reviewers report scaling problems under heavy workloads.
- Reviewers say Dify has fewer connectors than rivals such as LangFlow.
- Multi-agent orchestration and built-in observability are basic.
- Workflows have no built-in version control, and the canvas can lag on large flows.
- Removing Dify branding from self-hosted apps requires a commercial license.
Portkey
Pros
- Unified API covering more than 1,600 models, with automatic fallbacks, retries, and load balancing.
- Detailed logs and traces show the latency, cost, and retry path of each request.
- An open-source core and a free tier let developers try it before paying.
- Enterprise governance features include budgets, rate limits, RBAC, SSO, and audit logs, with VPC deployment available.
Cons
- Since the 2026 acquisition, paid plans route through Palo Alto Networks' Prisma AIRS, which brings uncertainty about future pricing and roadmap.
- You pay for the gateway on top of LLM provider costs, and provider billing stays separate.
- Below Enterprise, support is community-only, and the free plan keeps logs for just 3 days.
- It may be more platform than needed for small prototypes that want only a simple proxy.
Not sold on either?
Frequently Asked Questions
Portkey scores higher on our AI Software criteria: 7.8/10 against 7.3/10 for Dify. The largest gap is in Analytics: 6/10 for Dify and 9/10 for Portkey.
Portkey costs less for 10 users: free on its Open Source plan, against about $159/mo on its Team plan for Dify, billed monthly.
Yes, both Dify and Portkey have a free plan.
Portkey is the better fit for saas companies: we rate it 8/10 for them, against 6/10 for Dify.
