7 Best Model Routing Tools for Cutting Inference Cost in 2026

Model routing tools reduce AI inference costs by 40% to 85% by directing simple queries to lightweight models and complex prompts to frontier LLMs. Bifrost is the top tool for enterprise engineering, offering unified governance and 11 microseconds of gateway overhead at 5,000 requests per second. While algorithmic routers like RouteLLM automate model trade-offs via preference classifiers, infrastructure gateways including LiteLLM and Kong manage production failover, load balancing, and spend limits to optimize latency and pricing.