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Random freezes, missing sound and display glitches usually trace back to one bad driver. Find and replace yours safely.Free scan · under a minuteA self-hosted LiteLLM proxy can give you a central place to route AI model requests and inspect usage, but what you can track depends on how you deploy it. A basic, database-free setup records endpoint activity; tracking spend by key, user, or team—and enforcing budgets—requires PostgreSQL-backed configuration. The proxy software can be self-hosted, but that does not make model-provider usage, hosting, or database services free.
What does an AI proxy track?
LiteLLM acts as a self-hosted, OpenAI-compatible gateway: a compatible application sends requests to the proxy, which routes them to configured model providers. That central route gives you a place to observe traffic instead of inspecting each application’s direct provider connection separately. See LiteLLM’s Getting Started guide.
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“Usage” can mean two different things in LiteLLM’s interface:
- Endpoint activity: gateway-level request activity recorded automatically and displayed in the Admin UI. This helps answer whether endpoints are receiving traffic.
- Spend records: completed requests logged with attribution such as key, model, provider, or tag. These help answer which workloads are associated with calculated spend.
These totals are not expected to match exactly. Endpoint counts can include requests that fail before LiteLLM resolves a key or model; spend rollups are based on logged requests after completion. The distinction is documented in LiteLLM’s Endpoint Activity documentation.
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Choose a deployment based on what you need to measure
| Deployment | What it provides | What it does not provide |
|---|---|---|
| Database-free basic gateway | Request routing and endpoint-level activity in the Admin UI. | Virtual keys and the documented per-key, user, or team spend tracking. A configured budget does not cap actual spend on this path. |
| PostgreSQL-backed gateway | Virtual keys and spend attribution by key, user, and team; database-backed spend data can support budget enforcement. | It does not turn proxy-calculated spend into a provider invoice or establish exact billing reconciliation. |
LiteLLM’s Docker Quickstart shows a basic configuration without a database. The Virtual Keys documentation describes the PostgreSQL-backed path. “Free” here should be understood as a way to self-host the gateway, not a promise that the whole system has no operating costs: you may still need a host, database, and paid model-provider access.
Set up a proxy for usage attribution
- Decide where it will run. Use an existing computer or server if it can be securely maintained and remain available to your applications. A separate host is optional, not a documented requirement; LiteLLM’s guides do not establish minimum hardware specifications.
- Follow the Docker quickstart for basic routing. Use the configuration and client setup in the official Quickstart to bring up the gateway and direct compatible requests to it. This database-free route is for proxying and endpoint activity, not virtual-key spend attribution.
- Add PostgreSQL if you need per-workload spend records. Configure the database and a master key according to the Virtual Keys guide. Then create virtual keys and assign them in a way that reflects your applications, users, or teams.
- Route each client through the proxy. Configure compatible clients to send requests to the proxy endpoint, rather than directly to a provider, and configure the proxy with the model providers you use. Consult the Getting Started guide for its current setup instructions.
- Review the relevant Usage data. Use endpoint activity to inspect gateway traffic; use spend records and their attribution dimensions to investigate calculated costs. Do not treat either view as a substitute for checking provider billing when you need accounting-grade totals.
Attribute costs to applications, users, or workflows
Use virtual keys for distinct workloads
Where the mapping makes sense, issue separate virtual keys for applications, teams, or users. This gives logged spend an attribution boundary instead of leaving all requests grouped under a shared credential. LiteLLM documents spend tracking by key, user, and team in its Virtual Keys guide; this workflow requires PostgreSQL-backed configuration.
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Use tags when key boundaries are not enough
LiteLLM documents custom tags for spend attribution. Its Spend Tracking documentation also says User-Agent is tracked by default in the described cost-tracking setup unless disabled. Tags can help distinguish workflows, but they do not change the underlying distinction between endpoint activity and completed-request spend records.
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Can the proxy enforce a spending limit?
Not reliably in the database-free setup. LiteLLM’s basic quickstart can accept a configured max_budget, but without a database the gateway cannot load the spend total needed to enforce that cap; the database-less path fails open. The relevant guidance appears in the Quickstart and Budgets and Rate Limits documentation.
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If a limit must actually constrain spending, use a database-backed deployment and verify its budget behavior against the current documentation. You can also set spending limits with the model provider where available. Proxy-side spend is calculated and recorded by the gateway; the documentation does not establish exact reconciliation with provider invoices, so compare the records with provider billing for accounting decisions.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Which setup should you choose?
- You only need centralized routing and traffic visibility: start with the database-free gateway and its endpoint activity view.
- You need to see which application, user, or team is driving calculated spend: use PostgreSQL-backed virtual keys and attribution.
- You need a spending cap to hold: do not rely on a database-free
max_budget; use database-backed spend tracking or provider-side limits. - You need financial records: treat proxy spend as monitoring data and check provider billing rather than assuming the two reconcile exactly.
- You do not want to operate PostgreSQL: a managed database is one possible operating choice, but assess its cost, security, and maintenance terms separately.
Self-hosting also means taking responsibility for protecting provider credentials and the proxy, and for maintaining the host and database you choose to operate.
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