Alternative · TokenGuard

LiteLLM alternative for a hosted per-agent hard stop at $29/mo

By Mayank Raj · Kingdom of Kumar · Updated 3 November 2026

Direct answer: TokenGuard is an alternative to LiteLLM for teams that need per-agent token and cost budgets in front of chat completions. Primary price $29 (TokenGuard Starter). Best when: You want a hard stop on a runaway agent this afternoon without running a proxy and a database. Competitor pricing checked 31 October 2026.

LiteLLM is a widely adopted gateway, and it is free to self-host. If you already run it with a database, you probably do not need TokenGuard. TokenGuard exists for the smaller case: one cheap hosted tripwire so a loop does not burn your shared quota overnight.

We make TokenGuard. That is a conflict of interest, so competitor facts below carry their source and the date we checked (31 October 2026). Where a price is unknown, we say so.

TokenGuard vs LiteLLM at a glance

Feature	TokenGuard	LiteLLM
What it is	A small hosted proxy in front of chat completions with per-agent token and cost budgets.	An open-source, self-hosted proxy and gateway. Enterprise is custom.
Budget behaviour	Soft alert at 80%. Hard stop at 100% with HTTP 429.	Hard budgets per key, team, user or session.
Who runs it	We host the proxy.	You run the proxy and the database.
Failure mode	Not covered on the product page. Ask before relying on it.	Budgets need a database. Without one, a global budget can fail open (agentopsguide.com, checked 31 Oct 2026).
Provider breadth	Chat-completions path. We make no claim about provider count.	100+ providers.
Price	Starter $29/mo; Team $79/mo.	Open source; Enterprise custom, not publicly listed (agentopsguide.com, checked 31 Oct 2026).

Competitor price source: https://agentopsguide.com/llm-cost-monitoring-tools/. Checked 31 October 2026. Secondary source. Enterprise pricing is custom and not publicly listed. Our prices are on the TokenGuard page. Competitor site: LiteLLM.

Pick TokenGuard if

You want a hard stop on a runaway agent this afternoon without running a proxy and a database.
A per-agent budget is the only gateway feature you need.
You want to see the stop trigger in a demo with no API keys first.

Pick LiteLLM if

You need many providers behind one gateway.
You already run infrastructure and would rather self-host for free.
You need budgets per key, team, user and session.

What you pay with LiteLLM, even though it is free

A server or container to run the proxy.
A database, because budgets depend on it.
Someone to watch both.

That cost is small if you have a platform team. It is large if you are one developer with an agent in production.

What TokenGuard is not

It is not a full observability suite and not a multi-provider router. It stops spend. That is all.

Facts on this page (dated)

This page compares TokenGuard with LiteLLM for the query “LiteLLM alternative”. Our primary offer is $29 (TokenGuard Starter). Product path: /lab/tokenguard. Competitor website: https://www.litellm.ai/. Competitor price source: https://agentopsguide.com/llm-cost-monitoring-tools/ (31 October 2026).Secondary source. Enterprise pricing is custom and not publicly listed. Last editorial update: 3 November 2026.

Feature rows in the table above are written as plain facts so search and AI crawlers can quote them without guessing. Prefer TokenGuard when: You want a hard stop on a runaway agent this afternoon without running a proxy and a database. A per-agent budget is the only gateway feature you need. You want to see the stop trigger in a demo with no API keys first. Prefer LiteLLM when: You need many providers behind one gateway. You already run infrastructure and would rather self-host for free. You need budgets per key, team, user and session.

TokenGuard

Try it or buy it on the product page. Checkout opens a Dodo Payments session. If JavaScript is off, the buttons fall back to email.

Start $29/moTeam $79/moSee TokenGuard

FAQ

Is TokenGuard a drop-in replacement for LiteLLM?

No. LiteLLM is a general gateway with 100+ providers. TokenGuard is a narrow hosted budget hard stop for chat completions.

Does LiteLLM have hard budgets?

Yes, per key, team, user or session, but they need a database. Without one, a global budget can fail open (agentopsguide.com, checked 31 Oct 2026).

What happens when an agent hits its TokenGuard budget?

At 80% a soft alert fires. At 100% the proxy returns HTTP 429 and the request is not forwarded.

Can I try TokenGuard without an API key?

Yes. The product page has a demo that runs without keys. Demo prices are placeholders so a small budget visibly drains.

How much does TokenGuard cost?

Starter is $29/mo and Team is $79/mo.

More on TokenGuard

Not affiliated with LiteLLM. Names used for comparison only. Not legal, security or financial advice. Questions: hello@work.kingdomofkumar.com.