APIs · head to head
Portkey vs Prisma
Portkey
APIs
Observe, govern, and secure every AI interaction across your enterprise
- From
- On request
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Only Prisma has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
- Each has a real cost: Portkey the free Developer tier records only 10,000 logs per month with 3 day log retention; the $49 per month Production tier raises that to 100,000 logs with $9 per additional 100,000 requests, as of August 2026.; Prisma prisma Postgres is billed per operation, with the free tier at 100,000 operations and 500 MB of storage
- Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Portkey and Prisma actually diverge.
Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (APIs).
What each one covers
Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.
Only in Portkey
Nothing recorded that Prisma does not also cover.
Only in Prisma
- ORM
- Query builder
- Auto-migrations
- Node.js
- TypeScript
- GraphQL
- REST APIs
- Node.js support
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Portkey
- Accessing 1,600+ language models through unified API gatewaynot Prisma
- Monitoring and observing LLM behavior in production environmentsnot Prisma
- Managing costs and setting budget limits for AI spendingnot Prisma
- Implementing guardrails and PII redaction for secure AI interactionsnot Prisma
Prisma
- Using a type safe ORM and query layer against a Postgres databasenot Portkey
- Adding a managed connection pool and edge cache in front of an existing databasenot Portkey
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Portkey
- The free Developer tier records only 10,000 logs per month with 3 day log retention; the $49 per month Production tier raises that to 100,000 logs with $9 per additional 100,000 requests, as of August 2026.
Prisma
- Prisma Postgres is billed per operation, with the free tier at 100,000 operations and 500 MB of storage
- Starter at $10 a month includes 1M operations then charges $0.0080 per 1,000
- Storage overage runs from $2.00 per GB on Starter down to $1.00 per GB on Business, so the unit cost depends on the plan
- Accelerate charges separately per operation and per GiB of query egress beyond the first 1 KiB
- Cache tag invalidations are not included below the Pro plan and are billed per thousand above it
Pricing, plan by plan
Portkey
On requestNo published plan breakdown. See the Portkey review.
Prisma
Free- FreeFree
- 1M requests/month
- 360 GB-hours memory
- 4 vCPU-hours
- Starter$10/month
- 5M requests/month
- 1M database operations ($8 per million overage)
- 10 GB storage ($2/GB overage)
- Pro$49/month
- 20M requests/month
- 10M operations ($2 per million overage)
- 50 GB storage ($1.50/GB overage)
- Business$129/month
- 100M requests/month
- 50M operations ($1 per million overage)
- 100 GB storage
Which should you pick?
Choose Portkey if
Nothing in the data separates Portkey from Prisma on the points above - pick on price and on how each one feels to use.
Choose Prisma if
- You need orm.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Node.js, TypeScript.
- You also want query builder.
Questions people ask
- Is Portkey or Prisma better?
- Neither clearly leads. Portkey starts at On request and Prisma at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Portkey or Prisma?
- Prisma has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Portkey and Free for Prisma.
- Does Portkey or Prisma run on more platforms?
- Portkey runs on Web. Prisma runs on Node.js, TypeScript.
- Can I use Prisma for free?
- Yes. Prisma has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Portkey starts at On request.
- What is Portkey best used for?
- Portkey is most often used for accessing 1,600+ language models through unified api gateway, monitoring and observing llm behavior in production environments, managing costs and setting budget limits for ai spending, implementing guardrails and pii redaction for secure ai interactions. Of those, accessing 1,600+ language models through unified api gateway and monitoring and observing llm behavior in production environments are not what Prisma is typically brought in for.
- What can Portkey do that Prisma cannot?
- Prisma covers ORM, Query builder, Auto-migrations, Node.js.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
Portkey: What happens if I exceed my Portkey plan's request limit?
Production tier ($49/month) charges $9 per additional 100,000 requests beyond the included 100,000. Enterprise customers have custom limits determined through their service agreement. Source: https://portkey.ai/pricing
SourcePrisma: How much does Prisma cost?
Prisma is free to start with 1M requests/month. The Starter plan costs $10/month with 5M requests, the Pro plan $49/month with 20M requests, and the Business plan $129/month with 100M requests. All plans have usage-based overages.
SourcePortkey: Can I self-host Portkey to avoid per-request billing?
Yes. Portkey offers an Open Source self-hosted version with unlimited requests at no cost, including universal API, routing, guardrails, and load balancing features. Source: https://portkey.ai/pricing
SourcePrisma: What is Prisma's overage pricing?
Prisma charges $1 per million requests over the included amount (Starter), $2 per million database operations overage (Pro and Starter), and $1.50-$2 per GB for storage overages depending on the plan. All plans include a hard spend limit on by default.
SourcePortkey: How long does Portkey retain my logs and metrics?
Free Developer tier retains logs 3 days and metrics 30 days. Production tier retains logs 30 days and metrics 90 days. Enterprise tier offers custom retention periods. Source: https://portkey.ai/pricing
SourcePrisma: Does Prisma include data transfer costs?
No, Prisma includes unlimited data transfer with no egress fees on all plans. Prisma ORM remains free across all tiers.
SourcePortkey: What compliance features are included in the Enterprise plan?
Enterprise tier includes SOC2 Type 2 certification, GDPR compliance, HIPAA compliance, VPC hosting, SSO, advanced guardrails, and dedicated support. Custom pricing required. Source: https://portkey.ai/pricing
SourceRelated pages
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