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Helicone

Helicone

Open Source
AI-Native

Acquired by Mintlify (2026) — still available under its own name.

Best value for money
Most customizable

AI Gateway & LLM Observability — build reliable AI apps

SOC 2
GDPR
HIPAA
Public status page
Global
+5
Last updated: Aug 28, 2026
Open Source
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helicone.ai
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Quick Answer

AI

Helicone is an open-source AI gateway and LLM observability platform for developers to route, debug, and analyze their AI applications. It offers a unified API for over 100 LLM models with 0% markup on provider costs and supports self-hosting for data sovereignty. Best for AI developers and teams needing comprehensive monitoring and cost optimization for their LLM workflows. A free tier is available, with Pro plans starting at $79/month.

About HeliconeAI

Helicone is an open-source AI gateway and LLM observability platform for developers to build reliable AI applications. It provides tools to route, debug, and analyze LLM traffic, offering features like smart load balancing, intelligent caching, and automatic failover. Helicone supports over 100 LLM models across various providers, with a free tier and usage-based pricing.

What Makes It UniqueAI

Helicone offers a unified AI Gateway that is OpenAI-compatible, allowing developers to switch between 100+ LLM models from different providers by simply changing the model name, with automatic fallbacks and 0% markup on provider costs.

AI-extracted from public sources. May contain errors. Methodology · Report an error

Decision Intelligence

Best For

AI
AI developers building production-grade LLM applications needing robust monitoring
Growing teams optimizing LLM costs and performance across multiple providers
Scaling companies with strict security and compliance requirements for LLM data
Startups under 2 years old and $5M in funding looking for cost-effective observability
Developers needing to debug complex multi-step LLM workflows and agent interactions

Consider Alternatives If

AI
Non-technical users without development experience
Teams exclusively using non-LLM AI models
Individuals or small teams with very low LLM usage who don't need advanced observability
Pricing Overview

Type

Open Source

Free Trial

Yes

Credit Card

Not Required

Free Plan

Yes

Dimension Scores

· 7.6 avg

How good it is, across universal quality axes

Ease of Use6/10
Output Quality8/10
Value for Money8/10
Customization9/10
Support7/10
Integration8/10
Accuracy & Reliability8/10
Compliance & Data Protection6/10
Performance8/10
AI-analyzed from product data·Medium confidenceHow we score

Task Scores

· 7.0 avg

What it can do, on category-specific tasks

Token Cost Attribution9/10
Hallucination Tracking8/10
Open Telemetry Compatibility8/10
Trace Completeness7/10
Latency Percentile P95 P997/10
Retrieval Accuracy Monitoring7/10
Alert Quality7/10
Drift Detection Speed6/10
Time To First Token6/10
Prompt Injection Detection5/10

Scores are AI-estimated from publicly available data — not an independent test or a verified user rating. How we rank →

Capabilities
Observability
Data Analysis
Prompt Optimization
Fine-Tuning
Automation
Model Evaluation
RAG
Embedding
Categories
AI Observability
AI Evaluation
Orchestration Agents
ProsAI
  • +Open-source with self-hosting options for data sovereignty
  • +0% markup on LLM provider costs, offering predictable pricing
  • +Unified API for 100+ LLM models, simplifying provider management
  • +Comprehensive observability features for debugging and performance analysis
  • +Supports advanced prompt management with version control and instant deployment
LimitationsAI
  • -Free tier limited to 10,000 requests and 1 GB storage
  • -Usage-based pricing applies beyond free tier limits
  • -Requires some technical setup for self-hosting and integration
  • -No explicit mention of support for non-LLM AI models
  • -Advanced features like SAML SSO and on-prem deployment are limited to Enterprise plans
Fit Score

Complexity

Advanced

Company Size

Small
Medium
Enterprise

Target Team Size

Small Team
Large Team

Target Skill Level

Expert
Technical Specifications
SDK Available
MCP Compatible (unknown)
Team Features
Webhook Support
Has DemoOpen demo
Function Calling
Sandbox Mode
Audit Logs
No Signup
Works Offline (unknown)
Requires Host App
Framework
MCP Server
Inference API
Authentication
Single Sign-On
SAML
Developer Access
SDK
@helicone/helpers
Go
TypeScript
Python
→ Package
Webhooks→ Docs
Sandbox
Public
→ Try sandbox
Deployment:
Self Hosted
Response time (est.):
Fast
Compliance, Privacy & Trust
GDPR (as claimed): Yes
SOC 2 (as claimed): Yes
Type II
HIPAA (as claimed): Yes
Privacy & data handling
Trains on user data: Unknown
Human review:
Recommended

The Model(s) Behind It

Model details — extracted from public vendor sources by our pipeline (Smart Generator + A3 cross-referencing) or admin-entered. Shown as claimed by the vendor; not independently audited by Intelloro.

Powered By
Bring-your-own-model — connects to 63+ models
Integrations & Connections
21 connections
H
O
+17
Open WebUI
Open WebUI

The self-hosted AI interface — run AI on your own terms

OP
OpenAINative

Integrates with OpenAI API for logging and routing

AN
AnthropicNative

Integrates with Anthropic API for logging and routing

AZ
Azure OpenAINative

Integrates with Azure OpenAI for logging and routing

LI
LitellmNative

Integrates with LiteLLM for LLM provider management

AN
AnyscaleNative

Integrates with Anyscale for LLM provider management

TO
Together AINative

Integrates with Together AI for LLM provider management

OP
OpenrouterNative

Integrates with OpenRouter for LLM provider management

Auto-updated

Build a Stack

Trust Score

88/100

Very Good

Based on 10 data signals

Confidence: Medium

Reflects publicly available data, not an independent audit

Compliance & Verified26/38
GDPRYes
SOC 2Yes
HIPAAYes
Human ReviewYes
Operational35/35
Status PageYes
Data ResidencyUS, EU
Market Proof10/10
Notable CustomersDeepAI, Brand.dev, Sunrun
Company17/17
Company ListedYes
Team Size1-10
FundingAcquired
Health—

Not yet checked

AI-Assisted Data

Some details are AI-generated estimates — verify with the vendor.

AI-generated estimate: Best For, Description, Limitations, Not Good For, Pros, Quick Answer, What Makes Unique

How we source data

AI Governance & Regulatory Disclosures

Legally-sensitive fields — extracted from public vendor sources by our pipeline (Smart Generator + A3 cross-referencing) or admin-entered. Shown as claimed by the vendor; not independently audited by Intelloro.

EU AI Act Risk Tier
Unclassified
EU AI Act Article 50 Disclosure
Not declared
COPPA Compliance (US under-13)
Not declared

Switching & Migration

Migration Difficulty
Moderate Effort
Data portable as:
JSONL

Dedicated Slack channel

API Access
Open Source
Quick Stats
CategoryAI Observability
PlatformsWeb, API
Integrations20+
Launched2023
Setup TimeMINUTES
Company & Links
CompanyHelicone, Inc.
Founded2023
Based inUnited States
Last major updateNov 2025
FundingAcquired · $5M
DocumentationChangelog
LinkedInTwitter/XDiscordYouTube
All Features
LLM observability dashboard
AI Gateway with smart load balancing
Intelligent caching for LLM responses
Automatic failover for LLM providers
Prompt management with version control
Real-time cost tracking and analytics
User metrics and session tracking
Custom rate limiting
Free tier available
Hobby
Free
  • 10,000 free requests
  • 1 GB storage
  • 1 seat, 1 organization
Most Popular
Pro
$79/month
Free trial · no card needed
  • Everything in Hobby
  • Unlimited seats
  • Alerts & reports
  • HQL (Query Language)
  • Usage-based pricing applies
Team
$799/month
  • Everything in Pro
  • 5 organizations
  • SOC-2 & HIPAA compliance
  • Dedicated Slack channel
  • Usage-based pricing applies
Enterprise
Custom
  • Everything in Team
  • Custom MSA
  • SAML SSO
  • On-prem deployment
  • Bulk cloud discounts

Pricing verified from the vendor pricing page.

User Reviews

No reviews yet. Be the first to review!

Alternatives

Top Helicone alternatives in the same category, ranked by quality.

Comet Opik

Comet Opik

freemium

Open-Source AI Observability & Evals for the Agentic Era

Arize Phoenix

Arize Phoenix

open_source

The open-source platform for agent development & evaluation

Datadog AI

Datadog AI

freemium

Cloud Monitoring as a Service

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Who It's For
3 roles
Software DevelopersData ScientistsComputer and Information Research Scientists
Platform, Content & Languages
2 content types
1 languages
TextCodeEnglish+7 more

Content Types

Text
Code

Accepts

Text
Code
API

Produces

Text
Code
API
JSON
Languages: English

Frequently Asked Questions