Respan Gateway vs Runtime (2026)
A side-by-side comparison of Respan Gateway and Runtime on pricing, features, and fit, so you can decide which is right for you.
Quick answer
Respan Gateway and Runtime are both strong choices, but they fit different needs. Choose Respan Gateway if you mainly need managing multi-provider llm traffic for production ai applications — its edge is combines routing, observability, and evals in a single platform reducing tool sprawl. Choose Runtime if you need running ai-generated scripts in a safe, isolated environment before deploying to production — its edge is sandboxed environments make ai-assisted coding safe for the entire team. Respan Gateway starts at around $49/month based on usage volume; Runtime starts at Paid plans starting around $20/month.
Features compared
- Unified LLM routing across multiple AI providers with a single API endpoint
- Built-in observability including request tracing, latency monitoring, and logging
- Automated evaluations to benchmark and compare model outputs at scale
- Fallback and retry logic to handle provider outages and reduce downtime
- Isolated sandboxed environments for AI coding agents
- Team-wide access so every member can run coding agents
- Safe code execution without risk to production systems
- Collaborative workspace for running and iterating on AI-generated code
Pros & cons
- Combines routing, observability, and evals in a single platform reducing tool sprawl
- Provider-agnostic design makes it easy to swap or mix LLM providers
- Saves engineering time by replacing custom middleware with ready-built infrastructure
- Relatively new platform so documentation and community resources are still maturing
- Advanced evaluation customization may require technical setup not suited for non-developers
- Sandboxed environments make AI-assisted coding safe for the entire team
- Accessible design lowers the barrier for non-engineers to use coding agents
- Reduces risk of accidental damage to production code or infrastructure
- Relatively new platform so documentation and community resources may be limited
- Sandbox limitations could restrict more advanced or resource-intensive coding tasks
The verdict
Choose Respan Gateway if
you mainly need to managing multi-provider llm traffic for production ai applications. Its edge: combines routing, observability, and evals in a single platform reducing tool sprawl.
Choose Runtime if
you mainly need to running ai-generated scripts in a safe, isolated environment before deploying to production. Its edge: sandboxed environments make ai-assisted coding safe for the entire team.
Frequently asked questions
Is Respan Gateway better than Runtime?
Neither is universally better. Respan Gateway is stronger for managing multi-provider llm traffic for production ai applications, with an edge in combines routing, observability, and evals in a single platform reducing tool sprawl. Runtime is stronger for running ai-generated scripts in a safe, isolated environment before deploying to production, with an edge in sandboxed environments make ai-assisted coding safe for the entire team. Pick based on your main task.
Which is cheaper, Respan Gateway or Runtime?
Respan Gateway starts at around $49/month based on usage volume and Runtime starts at Paid plans starting around $20/month. Free tier: Respan Gateway — Free tier available with limited requests and basic observability features; Runtime — Free tier available with limited sandbox usage.
What is Respan Gateway best for?
Respan Gateway is best for managing multi-provider llm traffic for production ai applications, running automated evals to compare model quality across openai and anthropic, monitoring api costs and latency to optimize ai infrastructure spending.
What is Runtime best for?
Runtime is best for running ai-generated scripts in a safe, isolated environment before deploying to production, enabling non-technical team members to use coding agents without fear of breaking systems, automating repetitive development tasks across an engineering team using ai agents.
Do Respan Gateway and Runtime have free plans?
Respan Gateway: Free tier available with limited requests and basic observability features. Runtime: Free tier available with limited sandbox usage. Check each tool's pricing page for current limits, as plans change.