Compare gateways for leading AI models that use tokens instead of detected personal data. Assess migration, API compatibility, EU routes and costs.
A gateway can give applications access to leading models without sending those protected original values upstream. Buy around the requests you must control, not the longest model list. This guide helps engineering and procurement teams evaluate Sluis against a documented workload and migration plan.
Define the gateway's job before comparing suppliers
Sluis is a managed, EU-first, multi-provider gateway. Start your shortlist with required models, request patterns and policy boundaries. In tokenization mode, detected protected personal values become stable, typed tokens before model dispatch. The provider receives those tokens instead of the originals; Sluis restores protected values on the return path and never sends the token mapping to the provider. Applications can use the model's reasoning or drafting capabilities and receive an answer with the relevant values restored.
This is protection for detected values, not a promise of anonymous requests. Test missed identifiers, residual context and unsupported content against your policy. allow_log records detections but sends the original text unchanged. Optional hosted inspection receives the remaining eligible text after local protection, so assess that additional recipient too. Managed Sluis is not your own infrastructure; provider terms and retention still need review.
Illustrative scenario: a software team wants to consolidate two model providers without rewriting every client. Compare the operating burden of separate integrations with gateway migration and ongoing usage-based charges.
- Inventory workloads, models and peak request volumes.
- Separate mandatory controls from desirable features.
- Use /pricing to assess current commercial terms.
Test migration rather than assuming interchangeability
Use the existing OpenRouter and LiteLLM comparisons to structure evaluation questions, not to assume permanent feature parity. Recheck current supplier documentation and the exact versions your applications use.
Run representative requests through a staging migration. Check streaming, errors, tool calls and model-specific parameters, then define rollback criteria before moving production traffic.
- Create a test set from real application behaviours.
- Compare failure handling and response interpretation.
- Record cutover ownership and rollback conditions.
Separate API compatibility from integration support
Sluis provides OpenAI-compatible and Anthropic-compatible APIs, with policy for both models and MCP tools. Compatibility does not establish support for every client feature or MCP workflow.
Treat Cursor, Claude Code, Codex, BYOK, SSO, Entra ID and knowledge connectors as buyer requirements to verify, not shipped integrations inferred from API compatibility.
- Test required endpoints with the actual client version.
- Validate exact MCP operations and allow/deny behaviour.
- Request evidence for identity, key and connector requirements.
Verify residency at the model and route level
An EU-first gateway does not make every upstream model an EU-only option. For Claude, OpenAI, Gemini or Mistral requirements, verify the specific route, processing location and contractual conditions.
EU data residency, EU ownership and exposure to US law are different questions. Use the residency documentation and existing sovereign AI due-diligence guide rather than treating geography as a legal guarantee.
- List permitted models under each residency policy.
- Verify upstream processing and retention terms.
- Reject routes that cannot meet documented requirements.
Compare the same workload across gateway suppliers
If your shortlist includes Requesty, EUrouter, Bifrost, Helicone or Vercel AI Gateway, use each supplier’s current documentation to verify routing, operating responsibility, retained data and billing. Compare these with the existing OpenRouter, LiteLLM, Portkey, Kong, Cloudflare and Azure comparison pages. Inclusion is not a claim of identical features or a recommendation that one product always wins.
Questions before you decide
Does a compatible API make migration a base URL change?
Sometimes the initial connection is simple, but compatibility is not complete behavioural equivalence. Test authentication, streaming, tools, errors and model parameters before production.
Can every model run under an EU-only policy?
Do not assume so. Availability depends on the model, provider route and policy. Confirm the permitted combination before approving the workload.
How should we compare gateway pricing?
Sluis pricing is usage-based. Consult /pricing and compare representative workload costs alongside migration work and operational responsibility, without assuming identical supplier billing.