RelayPlane vs ZenMux: Local Proxy vs Cloud Gateway
ZenMux is an enterprise cloud gateway with account signup and credit billing. RelayPlane installs in 30 seconds, runs on your machine, and never sends your data to a third-party cloud. If you want cost intelligence without a cloud dependency, RelayPlane is the local-first alternative.
TL;DR
Choose RelayPlane when you want:
- No account, no signup, no credit balance to manage
- Prompts and cost data that stay on your machine only
- MIT open source with no vendor dependency
- Complexity routing that automatically cuts spend per request
Choose ZenMux when you need:
- Access to Chinese-market model providers from a single endpoint
- A hosted solution with no local binary to install
- Credit-based compensation for subpar model results
Feature Comparison
| Feature | RelayPlane | ZenMux |
|---|---|---|
| Product focus RelayPlane runs on your machine and routes every request to the cheapest model that can handle the task while logging costs locally. ZenMux is a cloud-hosted gateway you send requests through, with a credit balance and subscription billing. | Cost intelligence + complexity routing | Hosted cloud LLM gateway |
| Install method RelayPlane is a single npm install with no account required. ZenMux requires creating an account, purchasing credits or a subscription, then configuring an API key before any request can be proxied. | npm install -g @relayplane/proxy | Account signup + API key |
| Data privacy RelayPlane logs every request to local SQLite only. No request payload, prompt, or response leaves your machine. ZenMux is a cloud intermediary, meaning your prompts and responses pass through their infrastructure. | All data stays on device (SQLite) | Requests route through ZenMux cloud |
| No account required RelayPlane works entirely without an account. ZenMux requires registration and a funded credit balance before routing any requests. | ||
| Per-request cost tracking RelayPlane logs the exact token count and dollar cost of every request to local SQLite. ZenMux provides a cloud dashboard for usage analytics, but your cost data lives on their servers rather than yours. | SQLite per-request log (on-device) | Cloud usage dashboard |
| Complexity-based routing RelayPlane automatically routes simple tasks to cheaper models like Haiku and complex tasks to Opus based on request complexity. ZenMux routes based on model availability and fallback order, not task complexity or cost optimization. | ||
| Budget caps and spend controls RelayPlane enforces configurable budget caps that stop requests before you overspend. ZenMux uses a credit balance model where you pre-fund an account, but there are no per-session or per-day hard caps that halt execution. | ||
| Works with Claude Code and Cursor Both tools expose an OpenAI-compatible API and can be pointed at from Claude Code and Cursor via a baseURL swap. | ||
| Open source RelayPlane is MIT licensed and fully open source. ZenMux is a proprietary SaaS product with no open-source offering. | MIT | |
| Pricing RelayPlane is free and open source. ZenMux uses a credit-based pay-as-you-go model combined with subscription tiers. | Free (MIT) | Credits + subscription |
| Automatic failover Both tools support fallback model routing when a primary model is unavailable. ZenMux markets this as their Fallback Model feature. RelayPlane handles failover as part of its routing engine. | ||
| Vendor lock-in RelayPlane is MIT open source and runs on your own machine. ZenMux requires maintaining a funded account. If ZenMux changes pricing or shuts down, your routing setup is broken. | None (MIT, self-hosted) | Account and credit dependency |
| Cost visibility dashboard RelayPlane provides a local cost dashboard at localhost:4100 showing per-request spending, model distribution, and token usage. ZenMux offers a cloud dashboard, but the data lives on their servers. | Cloud dashboard only |
Why Developers Choose RelayPlane Over ZenMux
30-second setup with no account
ZenMux requires creating an account, verifying your identity, purchasing credits, and configuring an API key before your first proxied request. RelayPlane is one npm install. Run npm install -g @relayplane/proxy, then relayplane start, and your proxy is live on localhost:4100. No signup form, no payment method, no email confirmation. For developers who want to start tracking costs today rather than next week, the difference is felt immediately.
Your prompts never leave your machine
ZenMux is a cloud intermediary. Every request you proxy through ZenMux passes through their infrastructure before reaching the model provider. That means your prompts, responses, and usage patterns are stored on their servers, subject to their data policies, and dependent on their uptime. RelayPlane runs locally. Every request goes directly from your machine to the model provider, and every cost log is written to local SQLite. No third-party cloud in the path.
MIT open source with no credit balance to manage
ZenMux is a proprietary SaaS product. If their pricing changes, their servers go down, or the company pivots, your routing configuration breaks. RelayPlane is MIT licensed and self-hosted. The code is on your machine and does not depend on any external service staying alive or affordable. There is also no credit balance to top up, no subscription to renew, and no vendor relationship to manage.
Cost intelligence, not just availability routing
ZenMux focuses on model aggregation and automatic compensation when a model underperforms. That solves a real problem in cloud routing scenarios. RelayPlane solves a different one: it routes every request to the cheapest model that can handle the task. When Claude Code fires 50 requests, RelayPlane routes the simple ones to Haiku and the complex ones to Opus automatically. The result is lower spend on the same workload, tracked to the cent in local SQLite.
ZenMux Solves Cloud Aggregation. RelayPlane Solves Local Cost Intelligence.
ZenMux launched on Product Hunt in February 2026 as an enterprise-grade LLM gateway. Its strengths are breadth of model support (including Chinese-market providers like Baidu, Volcengine, and Qwen), an OpenAI-compatible API, and a cloud compensation system for billing anomalies and subpar model results. If you need a single hosted endpoint that covers a wide model roster without managing multiple API keys, it covers that use case.
But ZenMux is a cloud service with account and credit requirements. Your prompts pass through their infrastructure, your cost data lives on their servers, and your routing depends on their uptime and pricing. RelayPlane sits in the same place in your request path but runs locally: one npm install, no account, all data in local SQLite. For developers who want cost intelligence without a cloud intermediary, RelayPlane is the alternative with zero vendor dependency.
Get Running in 30 Seconds
No account. No credit balance. No cloud dependency. Just npm: