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AI · head to head

Arize AI vs Banana

Arize AI logo

Arize AI

AI

AI engineering platform for observability and evaluation of agents and LLM apps

From
Free
Rated
-
Banana logo

Banana

AI

ML inference at scale

From
$1200/month
Rated
-

The short version

  • Only Arize AI has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Arize AI the free plan caps trace spans at 25,000 per month with only 15 days of retention.; Banana banana shut down its serverless GPU infrastructure on 31 March 2024 at noon PST and told customers to migrate to another provider by that time
  • They diverge on capability: Arize AI covers End-to-end tracing, Banana covers GPU inference.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Arize AI and Banana actually diverge.

Attributes where Arize AI and Banana differ
AttributeArize AIBanana
Starting priceFree$1200/month
Pricing modelfreemiumsubscription
Free tierYesNo
Platformsweb, apiCloud, Api
FoundedUnknown2021

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (AI).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Arize AI

  • End-to-end tracing
  • Evaluation framework
  • Prompt testing and improvement
  • Alyx AI engineering agent
  • Custom dashboards
  • Data warehouse integrations

Only in Banana

  • GPU inference
  • Auto-scaling
  • Docker deployment
  • Low latency
  • REST API
  • Python SDK
  • Cloud support
  • Api support

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Arize AI

  • Tracing and debugging production AI agentsnot Banana
  • Running large-scale evaluations across traces and sessionsnot Banana
  • Improving prompts before production rolloutnot Banana
  • Storing and querying GenAI traces alongside a data warehousenot Banana

Banana

  • Historically, serverless GPU inference for machine learning modelsnot Arize AI
  • Migration reference for teams that ran models on Banana before the 2024 shutdownnot Arize AI

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Arize AI

  • The free plan caps trace spans at 25,000 per month with only 15 days of retention.
  • Self-hosted deployment and Data Fabric integration are restricted to the custom-priced Enterprise tier.
  • Pricing beyond the $50/month Pro plan requires a custom quote, making cost planning less transparent at scale.
  • Advanced compliance features like HIPAA are only available on Enterprise.

Banana

  • Banana shut down its serverless GPU infrastructure on 31 March 2024 at noon PST and told customers to migrate to another provider by that time
  • The vendor's own sunset notice names limited runway, retention problems and GPU supply constraints as the reasons for closing
  • The banana.dev site still displays pricing tiers, but every tier links to the sunset notice rather than to a purchase

Pricing, plan by plan

Arize AI

Free
  • AX FreeFree
    • 25k trace spans/month
    • 1 GB storage/month
    • 15-day retention
  • AX Pro$50/month
    • 50k trace spans/month
    • 10 GB storage/month
    • 30-day retention
  • AX Enterprise$undefined/mo
    • Custom trace spans, storage, and retention
    • SaaS or self-hosted deployment
    • Managed agents and Data Fabric

Banana

$1200/month
  • Team$1200/month
    • 10 team members
    • 5 projects
    • 50 max parallel GPUs
  • Enterprise$null/custom
    • Custom seat limit
    • Custom GPU configuration

Which should you pick?

Choose Arize AI if

  • You need end-to-end tracing.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on web, api.
  • You also want evaluation framework.

Choose Banana if

  • You need gpu inference.
  • You work on Cloud, Api.
  • You also want auto-scaling.

Questions people ask

Is Arize AI or Banana better?
Neither clearly leads. Arize AI starts at Free and Banana at $1200/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Arize AI or Banana?
Arize AI has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Arize AI and $1200/month for Banana.
Does Arize AI or Banana run on more platforms?
Arize AI runs on web, api. Banana runs on Cloud, Api.
Can I use Arize AI for free?
Yes. Arize AI has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Banana starts at $1200/month.
What is Arize AI best used for?
Arize AI is most often used for tracing and debugging production ai agents, running large-scale evaluations across traces and sessions, improving prompts before production rollout, storing and querying genai traces alongside a data warehouse. Of those, tracing and debugging production ai agents and running large-scale evaluations across traces and sessions are not what Banana is typically brought in for.
What can Arize AI do that Banana cannot?
Arize AI covers End-to-end tracing, Evaluation framework, Prompt testing and improvement, Alyx AI engineering agent. Banana covers GPU inference, Auto-scaling, Docker deployment, Low latency.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Arize AI: What does Arize AX cost?

Arize AX offers a free plan, a Pro plan at $50/month, and a custom-priced Enterprise plan, with pricing based on trace spans, storage, and retention needs.

Source
Banana: How much does Banana's Team plan cost?

The Team plan costs $1,200 per month plus the cost of compute resources at cost with zero markup applied.

Source
Arize AI: Is there a free plan, and what are its limits?

The AX Free plan includes 25,000 trace spans and 1 GB of storage per month with 15-day retention, plus unlimited users, evaluations, and experiments.

Source
Banana: What is the maximum team size on Banana's Team plan?

The Team plan includes 10 team members and supports a maximum of 5 projects with up to 50 parallel GPUs.

Source
Arize AI: What deployment options are available?

Free and Pro plans are SaaS-only, while Enterprise customers can choose SaaS or self-hosted deployment with custom SLAs.

Source
Banana: Does Banana offer an Enterprise plan with custom pricing?

Banana offers an Enterprise plan with custom pricing plus at-cost compute, including SAML SSO, automation API, and dedicated support.

Source
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