--- title: "TrueFoundry Alternative — Zuplo" description: "Zuplo is the programmable API gateway that governs REST APIs, LLM traffic, and MCP servers on one policy engine — with model routing, semantic caching, token-based rate limiting, dollar spend caps, prompt-injection detection, and an MCP Gateway with a built-in OAuth authorization server. TrueFoundry is an MLOps-rooted AI gateway focused on LLM routing, guardrails, and model serving. Teams that want one control plane for all their API traffic — not a separate AI-only gateway alongside their existing API management — choose Zuplo." canonicalUrl: "https://zuplo.com/api-gateways/truefoundry-alternative-zuplo" pageType: "comparison" competitor: "TrueFoundry" subtitle: "One Programmable Gateway for REST, LLM, and MCP Traffic" --- # Zuplo vs TrueFoundry _One Programmable Gateway for REST, LLM, and MCP Traffic_ > Zuplo is the programmable API gateway that governs REST APIs, LLM traffic, and MCP servers on one policy engine — with model routing, semantic caching, token-based rate limiting, dollar spend caps, prompt-injection detection, and an MCP Gateway with a built-in OAuth authorization server. TrueFoundry is an MLOps-rooted AI gateway focused on LLM routing, guardrails, and model serving. Teams that want one control plane for all their API traffic — not a separate AI-only gateway alongside their existing API management — choose Zuplo. ## Why Teams Move Away from TrueFoundry ### AI-only gateway scope TrueFoundry governs AI and LLM traffic only. REST API management, developer portals, and API key lifecycle are out of scope, so platform teams run a separate API gateway alongside it — doubling the governance surface. ### Self-hosted operational burden Managed SaaS is available, but TrueFoundry's enterprise and regulated deployments run on customer-managed Kubernetes. The self-hosted gateway plane costs roughly $600–$1,000/month in infrastructure, plus ongoing Helm charts, autoscaling, and cluster upgrades — all on your platform team. ### Output guardrails skip streaming TrueFoundry's output guardrails do not run when streaming is enabled; its own docs recommend setting stream:false for them to apply. Since streaming is the default for real-time chat, output protection is off in the most common LLM pattern. ### Configuration, not code Policies are set via YAML, the UI, or per-request headers (x-tfy-cache-config, X-TFY-GUARDRAILS). Custom guardrails must be built and deployed as separate HTTP services (a Python/FastAPI template or Guardrails.AI wrapper), so logic beyond the supported options lives outside the platform. ## About TrueFoundry TrueFoundry is an enterprise AI infrastructure platform headquartered in San Francisco, founded in 2021 by former Meta engineers. It began as an MLOps platform for model deployment and serving, then expanded into AI gateway, MCP gateway, and agent gateway products. The AI Gateway proxies 1,000+ models across 30+ providers through an OpenAI-compatible API, with model routing, semantic caching, rate limiting, spend caps, and a broad guardrails ecosystem that integrates Azure Content Safety, AWS Bedrock Guardrails, and Palo Alto Networks Prisma AIRS. It holds SOC 2 Type II, HIPAA, and ITAR compliance, and raised a $19M Series A led by Intel Capital ($21M total funding). ## Why Choose Zuplo Zuplo is the gateway for teams that refuse to bolt on a separate AI-only control plane. REST APIs, LLM traffic, and MCP servers run on one TypeScript-programmable runtime with one policy engine, one GitOps pipeline, and one audit trail. You get model routing, semantic caching, token-based rate limiting, dollar spend caps, and prompt-injection detection — plus an MCP Gateway with a full OAuth authorization server, per-user upstream brokering, and virtual MCP server composition. Deploy on a managed edge across 300+ data centers, on managed dedicated infrastructure in your cloud of choice, or self-hosted on Kubernetes — with no separate cluster to operate for AI traffic and no second gateway to maintain. ## Feature Comparison ### Gateway Scope _Unified REST + LLM + MCP gateway vs. AI-only gateway requiring a separate API management layer._ - **Zuplo** — One programmable gateway for REST APIs, LLM traffic, and MCP servers. Authentication, rate limiting, validation, and observability policies apply uniformly across all traffic. One deployment, one audit trail, one bill. - **TrueFoundry** — AI-only gateway focused on LLM routing, caching, and guardrails. REST API management, developer portals, and API key lifecycle are out of scope, so platform teams need a separate API gateway for non-AI traffic. ### Model Routing and Provider Support _Enterprise-focused provider routing vs. broader multi-provider coverage with advanced routing strategies._ - **Zuplo** — Multi-provider routing across OpenAI, Anthropic, Google Gemini, and Mistral with declarative provider mapping, per-route model selection, and auto-failover. Drop-in OpenAI SDK compatibility via a baseURL swap. Coverage focused on the enterprise short list — depth over breadth. - **TrueFoundry** — Routing across 1,000+ models from 30+ providers including OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, AWS Bedrock, Azure OpenAI, Cohere, Mistral, Groq, and self-hosted models. Weighted load balancing, latency-based routing, priority fallback, and geo-aware routing. Broader coverage, more routing strategies. ### Semantic Caching _Policy-based semantic caching vs. header-driven caching with per-user isolation._ - **Zuplo** — Semantic Cache Inbound policy uses LLM embeddings and vector similarity to match requests expressing the same intent. Configurable similarity threshold, TTL expiration, and custom cache-key extraction via property path or function. - **TrueFoundry** — Both exact-match and semantic caching. Semantic mode uses embeddings and cosine similarity with a configurable threshold, plus per-user isolation and namespace partitioning. Only the last message is compared semantically — all other parameters must match exactly. ### Rate Limiting and Spend Controls _Hierarchical org-to-app dollar budgets on one gateway vs. flexible multi-dimensional limits on an AI-only gateway._ - **Zuplo** — Token-aware rate limits via setIncrements — one LLM call does not equal one unit of budget. Hierarchical dollar budgets cascade from organization to team to application with daily and monthly enforcement; sub-team budgets cannot exceed the parent ceiling, and requests halt when a budget is hit. - **TrueFoundry** — Token-based and request-based rate limiting with per-minute, per-hour, and per-day windows, scoped by user, team, model, and metadata. Dollar- denominated budget enforcement at the user, team, model, and environment level. ### Guardrails and Prompt Injection _Code-first composable guardrails vs. broad vendor-integrated ecosystem (output guardrails skip streaming)._ - **Zuplo** — Prompt Injection Detection policy uses a tool-calling LLM to detect poisoned prompts. Secret Masking policy redacts API keys, tokens, and sensitive values from responses. Compose custom guardrails as TypeScript code. - **TrueFoundry** — Extensive guardrails ecosystem — prompt injection (powered by Azure Prompt Shield), PII/PHI detection, code safety, SQL sanitization, and Cedar/OPA policy enforcement. Integrates with AWS Bedrock Guardrails, Azure Content Safety, Palo Alto Prisma AIRS, CrowdStrike, and Patronus AI. Output guardrails are skipped when streaming is enabled. ### MCP Gateway _MCP Gateway on the same policy engine as REST and LLM vs. MCP as a separate component within the AI platform._ - **Zuplo** — Built-in OAuth authorization server with Dynamic Client Registration and PKCE S256. Per-user upstream OAuth brokering with encrypted token storage. Virtual MCP servers compose multiple upstreams behind one URL with curated tool lists per team. RFC 8707 resource indicators bind tokens to their virtual server. Same policy engine as REST and LLM traffic. - **TrueFoundry** — MCP Gateway component within the same platform, with OAuth authentication and RBAC. Pre-tool and post-tool guardrails for SQL injection, prompt injection, secrets, PII, and custom Cedar/OPA policies. Configured as a separate surface alongside the AI Gateway. ### Programmable Policies _TypeScript-programmable policies vs. YAML configuration with separately deployed custom guardrail services._ - **Zuplo** — Every policy is TypeScript code running in V8 isolates, with pre- and post-request hooks at every stage. Full npm ecosystem, type safety, CI tests, and Web Standard APIs (fetch, Request, Response). Custom auth, guardrails, and routing — not limited to a configuration UI. - **TrueFoundry** — Configuration-driven gateway managed via YAML, CLI, or UI. Custom guardrails run as separately deployed HTTP services (Python/FastAPI or Guardrails.AI) registered with the gateway, and per-request behavior is controlled through headers (x-tfy-cache-config, X-TFY-GUARDRAILS). Logic beyond supported options goes outside the platform. ### GitOps and Deployment Pipeline _Git-native with PR preview environments vs. CLI-driven YAML configuration._ - **Zuplo** — Git is the source of truth. Every push deploys, every PR gets a live preview environment on the same 300+ edge POPs as production. Rollback via git revert. CODEOWNERS for sensitive changes. Supports GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, and Azure DevOps. - **TrueFoundry** — Declarative YAML applied via the tfy CLI (tfy apply -f config.yaml), supporting GitOps workflows where config lives alongside application code. UI dashboard for visual management. No automatic PR preview environments. ### Deployment Model _Managed edge across 300+ locations vs. self-hosted-first Kubernetes for enterprise._ - **Zuplo** — Managed multi-tenant on 300+ edge POPs by default, managed dedicated single-tenant on AWS, Azure, GCP, Akamai, or Equinix, and self-hosted on Kubernetes. No infrastructure to operate on the managed tiers. Deploys in seconds via git push. - **TrueFoundry** — Fully managed SaaS, SaaS with customer data storage, self-hosted gateway plane (~$600–$1,000/month infrastructure), and fully self-hosted including air-gapped. Enterprise and regulated deployments target Kubernetes in the customer VPC. ### Compliance and Certifications _SOC 2 Type II with enterprise SLA vs. SOC 2 + HIPAA + ITAR for regulated industries._ - **Zuplo** — SOC 2 Type II audited annually. GDPR-aligned data processing. Annual third-party penetration tests under NDA. Audit logs across the control plane. 99.999% enterprise uptime SLA. - **TrueFoundry** — SOC 2 Type II, HIPAA, and ITAR certified — broader coverage for regulated industries such as healthcare, defense, and aerospace. Full VPC and air-gapped deployment for strict data residency. ### Observability _Unified observability across REST, LLM, and MCP vs. AI-focused OpenTelemetry observability._ - **Zuplo** — Every LLM request logged with latency, tokens, and cost per call. Stream request data to Galileo, Comet Opik, or custom collectors. For MCP, typed analytics events fire across the request lifecycle, capability invocations, and upstream OAuth flow. Structured logs pipe to Datadog, New Relic, or Splunk. - **TrueFoundry** — OpenTelemetry-compliant metrics, traces, and request logs. Latency graphs, token-level traces, and centralized error logs. Real-time dashboards track blocked requests and top consumers. Integrated prompt management with versioned prompts and a playground. ### Pricing _Bundled enterprise pricing vs. transparent per-tier pricing with infrastructure costs for self-hosted._ - **Zuplo** — Free tier for development. Predictable Enterprise pricing that bundles the developer portal, managed dedicated deployments, SOC 2 controls, SSO, audit logs, AI Gateway, and MCP Gateway. No per-log billing or silent observability caps. - **TrueFoundry** — Transparent published tiers — Developer at $0/month (50K requests, 3 users), Pro at $499/month (1M requests, 10 users), Pro Plus at $2,999/month, and Enterprise custom for 10M+ requests with VPC and air-gapped options. Self-hosted gateway infrastructure adds ~$600–$1,000/month. ## FAQ **Is Zuplo a TrueFoundry alternative?** Yes. Both provide AI gateway capabilities — model routing, semantic caching, rate limiting, spend controls, and guardrails. The key difference is scope: Zuplo governs REST APIs, LLM traffic, and MCP servers on one programmable runtime, while TrueFoundry is an AI-only gateway that needs a separate platform for REST API management. Teams consolidating gateway infrastructure choose Zuplo. **How does Zuplo compare to TrueFoundry for model routing?** Zuplo supports multi-provider routing across OpenAI, Anthropic, Google Gemini, and Mistral with declarative provider mapping, per-route model selection, and auto-failover. TrueFoundry supports 1,000+ models from 30+ providers with weighted load balancing, latency-based routing, and geo-aware routing. TrueFoundry offers broader coverage; Zuplo routes LLM traffic on the same policy engine that governs your REST APIs and MCP servers. **Does Zuplo support token-based rate limiting?** Yes. Zuplo's rate limiting uses setIncrements so each LLM call consumes budget based on actual tokens used, not a flat per-request count. You can set hierarchical dollar budgets at the organization, team, and application level with daily and monthly enforcement; a sub-team's budget can never exceed its parent's ceiling, and requests halt when the budget is hit. See Rate Limit LLM APIs by Tokens, Not Requests for a technical walkthrough. **What about guardrails and prompt injection?** Zuplo provides a Prompt Injection Detection policy that uses a tool-calling LLM to detect poisoned prompts, plus a Secret Masking policy that redacts API keys, tokens, and sensitive values from responses — both composable with custom TypeScript. TrueFoundry offers a broader guardrails ecosystem with integrations for Azure Content Safety, AWS Bedrock Guardrails, Palo Alto Prisma AIRS, and more, but its output guardrails are skipped when streaming is enabled — the default for most chat applications. **Does Zuplo have an MCP Gateway?** Yes. Zuplo's MCP Gateway includes a built-in OAuth authorization server with Dynamic Client Registration and PKCE S256, per-user upstream OAuth brokering with encrypted token storage, and virtual MCP server composition that federates multiple upstreams (Linear, GitHub, Stripe, Atlassian, Slack) behind a single gateway URL with curated tool lists per team. It runs on the same policy engine as your REST APIs and AI Gateway — one project, one deployment, one audit trail. **How does deployment differ between Zuplo and TrueFoundry?** Zuplo offers three models — managed multi-tenant on 300+ edge data centers (the default), managed dedicated single-tenant on AWS, Azure, GCP, Akamai, or Equinix, and self-hosted on Kubernetes — with zero infrastructure operations on the managed tiers. TrueFoundry offers managed SaaS, but its enterprise and regulated deployments run self-hosted on Kubernetes in your VPC, adding roughly $600–$1,000/month in infrastructure plus ongoing cluster operations. **Why choose Zuplo over TrueFoundry?** Five reasons: (1) one gateway for REST, LLM, and MCP traffic instead of a separate AI-only gateway alongside your existing API management; (2) managed edge deployment across 300+ locations with zero Kubernetes operations; (3) TypeScript-programmable policies instead of configuration-only customization; (4) GitOps-native with PR preview environments on every branch; (5) an MCP Gateway on the same policy engine as your AI Gateway and REST APIs. **When should I choose TrueFoundry instead?** TrueFoundry is the stronger choice if you need a full MLOps platform with model serving, fine-tuning, and GPU scheduling alongside the AI gateway. It is also a better fit if you require HIPAA or ITAR certifications on the AI gateway itself, need fully air-gapped on-premises deployment, or want managed integrations with a broad ecosystem of third-party guardrail vendors like Palo Alto Prisma AIRS, CrowdStrike, and Patronus AI. **Can I migrate incrementally?** Yes. Since both expose OpenAI-compatible endpoints, the application-side change is a baseURL swap. You can migrate LLM traffic route by route while keeping TrueFoundry active on the rest. MCP governance can move independently by repointing MCP clients (Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, ChatGPT, VS Code) from TrueFoundry's MCP Gateway to Zuplo's.