# Where to begin

> Orientation for the Get started section: choose a starting point by product or by role, then open the exact page that matches both.

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# Where to Begin

  Agent Router serves evaluators, developers, and operators across three products that differ in tier and in where the data plane runs. Pick a starting point by product or by role; the two meet in the matrix below, which names the exact page to open for each combination.

## Start by product

Every product ends with a working gateway and a first routed request. They differ in tier, the capabilities an account has, and in where the data plane runs.

  
    Developers
    Agent Router Service
    Multi-tenant and hosted by Tetrate. Nothing to install.Best for routing a first request in minutes, with no infrastructure.
    
    <Link className="tare-card-link" to="/agent-router-service/quickstarts/quickstart-explore">Quick start →</Link>
  
  
    Teams
    Agent Router Enterprise, fully managed
    Team-scale governance on a dedicated instance, hosted end to end by Tetrate.Best for admin controls without running infrastructure.
    
    <Link className="tare-card-link" to="/agent-router-enterprise/fully-managed/fast-track">Fast track evaluation →</Link>
  
  
    Teams
    Agent Router Enterprise, self-hosted data plane
    Same controls and dedicated management plane, with the data path on self-managed infrastructure.Best for teams that must keep data on their own infrastructure.
    
    <Link className="tare-card-link" to="/agent-router-enterprise/self-hosted-data-plane">Quick start →</Link>
  

Not sure which fits? The [tier comparison](/#which-is-right-for-you) on the welcome page sets Service against Enterprise, and the flowchart under **Still deciding?** below walks the choice.

## Start by role

  
    Evaluator
    Deciding whether it fits
    Running a proof-of-concept or trial to answer what an organisation asks before it commits: data residency, cost control, integration effort, and scale.
    <Link className="tare-card-link" to="/product-architecture/product-evaluation/evaluation">Evaluate Agent Router →</Link>
  
  
    Developer
    Routing requests
    Routing AI requests from an application or agent, managing API keys, setting fallbacks and traffic splits, aggregating MCP servers, and observing traffic through the Developer Console.
    <Link className="tare-card-link" to="/agent-router-service/guides">Guides for developers →</Link>
  
  
    Platform operator
    Governing the gateway
    Provisioning models and providers, governing access, auditing usage, configuring SSO, and managing budgets across environments through the Admin Dashboard.
    <Link className="tare-card-link" to="/agent-router-enterprise/guides/operate-and-govern">Guides for platform operators →</Link>
  

## Your starting page

Find the role in the left column and the product across the top; the cell names the page to open first.

  
    
      Role
      
        <small>Developers</small>
        Service
      
      
        <small>Teams</small>
        Fully Managed
      
      
        <small>Teams</small>
        Self-Hosted DP
      
    
  
  
    
      Evaluator
      <Link to="/agent-router-service/quickstarts/quickstart-explore">Quickstart: Explore</Link>
      <Link to="/agent-router-enterprise/fully-managed/fast-track">Fast Track Eval</Link>
      <Link to="/agent-router-enterprise/self-hosted-data-plane/prerequisites">Prerequisites</Link>
    
    
      Developer
      <Link to="/agent-router-service/quickstarts/quickstart-explore">Quickstart: Explore</Link>
      <Link to="/agent-router-service/quickstarts/quickstart-console">Console quickstart</Link>
      <Link to="/agent-router-service/quickstarts/quickstart-console">Console quickstart</Link>
    
    
      Platform operator
      
      <Link to="/agent-router-enterprise/fully-managed/onboarding">Onboarding</Link>
      <Link to="/agent-router-enterprise/self-hosted-data-plane/data-plane-installation">Install data plane</Link>
    
  

Installation is a phase, not a role: usually the platform operator during setup, sometimes with a platform engineer who owns the Kubernetes cluster. The Enterprise columns above cover it. The Service tier is self-serve and has no operator role.

## Still deciding?

The flowchart picks a path from the deployment constraints; the questions below are the ones that tend to decide it.

- **Where does the data go?** In [Self-Hosted Data Plane](/agent-router-enterprise/self-hosted-data-plane) deployments, AI traffic flows through a data plane in the customer's Kubernetes cluster: payloads, prompts, and credentials never leave the customer network. In fully hosted paths (Service or Fully Managed), Tetrate operates the data plane. See [Deployment models](/product-architecture/deployment-models) for the split, the [Architecture overview](/product-architecture/architecture-overview) for the request path, and [Compliance](/reference/compliance) for residency and retention.
- **Can cost be controlled and predicted?** Spend is tracked per team and per key, with rate limits enforced inline at the gateway and budgets tracking cumulative spend to raise alerts before the invoice does. The [Product overview](/product-architecture/product-overview) frames the cost story, and the operator guides show it in practice.
- **How hard is integration, and is there lock-in?** Applications target one endpoint using API shapes they already use, and providers can be added or swapped as a configuration change. [Gateway APIs](/reference/supported-apis) lists exactly what the gateway speaks.
- **Will it scale to production traffic?** [Sizing and scale](/reference/sizing-and-scale) covers throughput, resource sizing, and the deployment footprint.
- **What does running it actually require?** [Prerequisites](/agent-router-enterprise/self-hosted-data-plane/prerequisites) lists what must be in place before installation on AWS, Azure, or GCP.

To run an evaluation end to end, see [Evaluate Agent Router](/product-architecture/product-evaluation/evaluation).

## Where to go next

  <Link to="/product-architecture/deployment-models" className="tare-nav-card">
    Deployment models
    Where each part of Agent Router runs and who operates it, explained from first principles.
  </Link>
  <Link to="/#which-is-right-for-you" className="tare-nav-card">
    Tier comparison
    Agent Router Service and Agent Router Enterprise capabilities side by side, on the welcome page.
  </Link>
  <Link to="/reference/supported-apis" className="tare-nav-card">
    Looking something up
    For exact API surfaces, gateway edge cases, OpenTelemetry metric names, audit event schemas, or definitions of Agent Router-specific terms, head to the Reference section.
  </Link>