ClaudeStore vs Portkey — Claude Gateway vs Enterprise AI Proxy [2026]
ClaudeStore (sells Claude API directly, billing about 30% below Anthropic's official rates) vs Portkey (BYO-key enterprise gateway with observability). Differences, pricing, when to use each, and how to combine them.
Quick Answer
ClaudeStore vs Portkey in one line: they solve different problems. ClaudeStore sellsClaude API access (you buy credits, get a key, use it). Portkey is a proxy/observability layer where you bring your own provider keys (Anthropic, OpenAI, etc.) and Portkey adds logging, fallbacks, and guardrails. They can be combined: use ClaudeStore as the Claude provider behind Portkey.
What each one actually is
ClaudeStore — a Claude-only API gateway. You sign up, pay $5 for 1,000 credits, get a key starting with sk-, and call Anthropic models through our endpoint. Request deductions are based about 30% below Anthropic's official token rates. Native Anthropic API + OpenAI-compatible endpoint.
Portkey — an enterprise AI gateway. You bring your own Anthropic key (or OpenAI, Azure, etc.). Portkey sits in front of those keys and adds: request logging, semantic caching, fallback routing across providers, prompt versioning, guardrails, and team-level analytics. Pricing is subscription-based (per-request volume tiers).
Feature Comparison
| Feature | ClaudeStore | Portkey |
|---|---|---|
| Sells Claude API directly | Yes | No (BYO key) |
| Pricing model | Pay-per-token (~30% below Anthropic official pricing) | Subscription tiers |
| Observability dashboard | Basic (per-key usage) | Enterprise-grade |
| Multi-provider fallback | No (Claude only) | Yes |
| Semantic caching | Anthropic prompt caching | Cross-request semantic |
| Guardrails / PII redaction | No | Yes |
| RU payment (Mir/SBP) | Yes | No |
| Cursor / Claude Code | Native | Possible via custom endpoint |
When to use Portkey
- Enterprise team with 5+ engineers and compliance requirements
- Need multi-provider fallback — automatic failover from Claude to GPT-4 on rate limits
- Need guardrails and PII redaction on production prompts
- Want cross-request semantic caching beyond Anthropic's native prompt cache
When to use ClaudeStore
- Solo developer or small team using Claude in Cursor / Claude Code
- Need RU payment via Mir / SBP / Tribute
- Want predictable token billing at about 30% below Anthropic's official pricing
- Building a Claude-only product and don't want enterprise gateway complexity
Combining ClaudeStore + Portkey
Enterprise teams that want both observability and ClaudeStore's billing model can stack them:
- Buy credits at ClaudeStore, generate a key
- In Portkey, add a custom OpenAI-compatible provider with base URL
https://api2.claudestore.store/v1and the ClaudeStore key - Route Portkey virtual keys through this provider for Claude requests
- You get Portkey observability + ClaudeStore's Claude access and billing