Choose your setup path

Start from the outcome

Do not choose an integration path only because it is technically convenient. Choose it based on the outcome your team needs first: visibility, enforcement, incident response, allocation or optimization.

Path A: observability first

Choose direct ingest when you want to see usage and cost quickly without modifying production provider calls.

This path is best when you already have provider integrations in place, want low operational risk, and can send reliable usage events from your backend.

Path B: gateway control first

Choose Kadryn Gateway when you need central routing, provider abstraction, request-level tracing or policy enforcement in the request path.

This path is best when you are launching new AI features, consolidating provider access, or preparing to enforce budgets and caps.

Path C: finance visibility first

Choose a cost-first rollout when leadership or finance needs allocation, reporting and forecasts before runtime controls are introduced.

This path still needs good metadata. Without project, team, feature and environment attribution, the cost dashboard will be accurate but not actionable.

Recommended decision

For most SaaS teams, start with Direct ingest for visibility, add Gateway for new high-volume or high-risk traffic, then enable Guardrails after the first two weeks of clean data.