Blog · AI Gateway

OpenAI Compatible API Gateway

One OpenAI compatible endpoint. Switch between DeepSeek, Qwen, MiMo, GPT-5 and 25+ models without changing your code.

What is an OpenAI compatible API gateway?

An OpenAI compatible API gateway is a single endpoint that speaks the OpenAI chat completions format but routes requests to multiple upstream providers. Instead of managing separate API keys, base URLs, and SDK configurations for each model provider, you configure one gateway and let it handle the rest.

The gateway accepts the same JSON structure as OpenAI — model, messages, stream, tools — and translates them to the target provider. Your application code never changes.

Why use a gateway instead of direct provider APIs?

One integration — Wire up the OpenAI SDK once and call any model
Automatic failover — If one provider is down, the gateway routes to a healthy alternative
Cost visibility — Track spend across all models in one dashboard
Simplified billing — One payment relationship instead of seven
BYOK support — Bring your own provider keys and still get gateway features

How it works

# Your code stays the same — only base_url and key change
from openai import OpenAI
client = OpenAI(
    base_url="https://api.ai24x.com/v1",
    api_key="sk-your-gateway-key"
)
# Call any supported model
response = client.chat.completions.create(
    model="flash",       # routed to DeepSeek V4 Flash
    messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Hello!"}]
)

Supported models

An OpenAI compatible gateway typically supports models across multiple providers. AI24X covers 29+ models including:

DeepSeek — V4 Flash, V4 Pro
Qwen — Qwen Max, Qwen Turbo, Qwen 3
MiMo — MiMo V2.5 Pro, MiMo V2.5 Flash
GLM — GLM-4-Plus, GLM-4-Air
Kimi — K3, K2.6 (1M context)
GPT-5, Claude Opus, and more

Gateway vs self-hosted compatible server

A self-hosted OpenAI compatible server (vLLM, LocalAI, llama.cpp) gives you full control but requires GPU infrastructure and ongoing maintenance. A gateway like AI24X handles scaling, failover, and multi-provider routing for you. Many teams use both — gateway for production traffic, local server for development and sensitive data.

Getting started

Try it with curl — no signup required to test the endpoint:

curl -X POST "https://api.ai24x.com/v1/chat/completions" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer sk-your-key" \
  -d '{"model":"flash","messages":[{"role":"user","content":"Hi"}]}'

One gateway. Every model. Start free.

Start Building Free Get API Key