# Cloudflare AI Gateway vs StepFun API

> Cloudflare AI Gateway scores 66.8 (B) to StepFun's 44.4 (E) for llm inference. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-ai-gateway-vs-stepfun-api
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-ai-gateway-vs-stepfun-api.md (~2,950 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-ai-gateway-vs-stepfun-api.min.md (~780 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-ai-gateway-vs-stepfun-api.json (this page as data, same URL with Accept: application/json)
- Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (full text: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt)
- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
- Updated: 2026-10-12

Cloudflare AI Gateway scores 66.8 (B) on agent readiness against StepFun API's 44.4 (E), and leads in every scored category. Both do llm inference.

- Cloudflare AI Gateway: grade B, 66.8/100, rank #278 of 965. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/cloudflare-ai-gateway.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/cloudflare-ai-gateway.json
- StepFun API: grade E, 44.4/100, rank #889 of 965. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/stepfun-api.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/stepfun-api.json
- Best model APIs and inference for AI agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/inference/index.md
- All 153 models comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/inference/index.md

## Which one, for what

### Cloudflare AI Gateway (B)

Good for: Teams that already hold a Cloudflare account and want one token, one bill, logs, budgets and fallbacks in front of several model providers, or that want to keep their own provider keys behind a proxy with spend limits.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 66 against 28
- Schema & documentation, 75 against 53
- Agent ergonomics, 73 against 68
- Security & auth, 75 against 41
- Payments & pricing, 52 against 20
- Maintenance & community, 75 against 50
- Transparency & trust, 73 against 58

Watch for: API tokens are account-scoped. Any token with AI Gateway Run can send requests through every gateway in the account and spend its stored provider keys

### StepFun API (E)

Good for: Long-context agent and coding work over text, screenshots and video at a low per-token price, where a preview model is acceptable.

Also in its favour:
- No incidents deducted, where Cloudflare AI Gateway loses 3 points for them

Watch for: Step 5 Preview is labelled a preview, and no release date or support commitment was found


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Cloudflare AI Gateway | StepFun API | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 66 | 28 | Cloudflare AI Gateway +38 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 75 | 53 | Cloudflare AI Gateway +22 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 73 | 68 | Cloudflare AI Gateway +5 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 75 | 41 | Cloudflare AI Gateway +34 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 52 | 20 | Cloudflare AI Gateway +32 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 75 | 50 | Cloudflare AI Gateway +25 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 73 | 58 | Cloudflare AI Gateway +15 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | -3 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **66.8 · B** | **44.4 · E** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Cloudflare AI Gateway | StepFun API |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | Model router | Model API |
| Vendor | Cloudflare, Inc. | StepFun |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://api.cloudflare.com/client/v4/accounts/{account_id}/ai` | `https://api.stepfun.ai/v1` |
| Transports | HTTP | HTTP |
| Auth | API key | API key |
| Pricing | Freemium | Pay per use |
| x402 | payer tooling only | no |
| Licence | Proprietary service under Cloudflare's Self-Serve Subscription Agreement and its service-specific terms. Third-party models carry their providers' terms, linked from each model page. `ai-gateway-provider` is MIT and Cloudflare's OpenAPI repository is BSD-3-Clause | Closed service under the StepFun Open Platform Terms of Service (STEPFUN TECHNOLOGY (HK) LIMITED, Hong Kong law). |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| Last release | 2026-10-06 | none |
| Terms last updated | 2025-09-12 |  |
| Privacy policy last updated | no date given |  |
| Customer content may train models | not found in the text |  |
| Terms restrict automated access | yes |  |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | not found in the text |  |
| Terms or service can change without notice | yes |  |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | yes |  |
| Popularity | 251k npm/wk | none |

## Verdicts

**Cloudflare AI Gateway.** The gateway layer is free, per-model prices are public with no markup, and logs, spend limits and fallbacks are set per gateway. API tokens cannot be limited to one gateway, the service terms take third-party models outside Cloudflare's DPA, no SLA names the product, and error codes changed on 6 October 2026 with same-day notice.

**StepFun API.** StepFun's API serves Step 5 Preview with a 1M-token context, video input, strict JSON Schema output and published per-token prices, documented in Markdown with an llms.txt. The model is a preview with no release date found, there's no free allowance or SLA, and the terms and privacy policy leave room to train on customer data.

## Before you call either

### Cloudflare AI Gateway

1. Use the REST API at `api.cloudflare.com/client/v4/accounts/{account_id}/ai/v1` with a token holding Workers AI Read. A token with only an AI Gateway permission returns 401 with code 10000
2. Send `cf-aig-gateway-id` on every Workers AI (`@cf/`) call and on dynamic routes. Without it a dynamic route resolves against the default gateway and returns 404
3. Set `cf-aig-collect-log: false` or `cf-aig-collect-log-payload: false` on sensitive requests. Logging of prompts and responses is on by default
4. Treat a 429 as a rate limit or a spent budget and a 401 with code 2009 as a rejected provider key. Do not retry a 2009
5. Set `byok_only` on the gateway or send `cf-aig-no-wholesale: true` to stop a request without a provider key falling through to paid Unified Billing credits

### StepFun API

1. Set `max_tokens` yourself. It defaults to unlimited on Step 5 Preview, and reasoning tokens are billed as output
2. Use `response_format` with `type: json_schema` and `strict: true` when the shape matters. JSON Mode alone isn't schema-checked
3. Back off and retry on 429, 500, 503 and 504. The docs give no Retry-After header or backoff schedule
4. Expect HTTP 451 or `finish_reason: content_filter` when content fails StepFun's review, and don't retry the same input
5. Use api.stepfun.ai for the international platform. api.stepfun.com is the China platform with yuan pricing

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, Cloudflare AI Gateway or StepFun API?

Cloudflare AI Gateway scores 66.8 (B) on agent readiness against StepFun API's 44.4 (E), and leads in every scored category.

### Do Cloudflare AI Gateway and StepFun API need an API key?

Both need an API key.

### Can an agent call Cloudflare AI Gateway and StepFun API without installing anything?

Yes. Cloudflare AI Gateway has a hosted endpoint at https://api.cloudflare.com/client/v4/accounts/{account_id}/ai and StepFun API at https://api.stepfun.ai/v1.


## For agents

- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-ai-gateway-vs-stepfun-api.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-ai-gateway-vs-stepfun-api.min.md
- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "cloudflare-ai-gateway", "b": "stepfun-api"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare cloudflare-ai-gateway stepfun-api`
- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/cloudflare-ai-gateway.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/stepfun-api.json

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