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Software · head to head

Arize AI vs Braintrust

Arize AI logo

Arize AI

Software

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

From
Free
Rated
-
B

Braintrust

Software

The active observability platform for agents

From
On request
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.; Braintrust the free Starter tier includes only $10 of monthly model credits, 1 GB of processed data, and 10,000 scores before overage charges of $4 per GB and $2.50 per 1,000 scores apply, as of August 2026.

Where they differ

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

Attributes where Arize AI and Braintrust differ
AttributeArize AIBraintrust
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelfreemiumusage-based
Free tierYesNo
Platformsweb, apiWeb

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

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 Braintrust

Nothing recorded that Arize AI does not also cover.

What people use each for

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

Arize AI

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

Braintrust

No use cases recorded yet. See the Braintrust review.

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.

Braintrust

  • The free Starter tier includes only $10 of monthly model credits, 1 GB of processed data, and 10,000 scores before overage charges of $4 per GB and $2.50 per 1,000 scores apply, as of August 2026.

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

Braintrust

On request

No published plan breakdown. See the Braintrust review.

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 Braintrust if

Nothing in the data separates Braintrust from Arize AI on the points above - pick on price and on how each one feels to use.

Questions people ask

Is Arize AI or Braintrust better?
Neither clearly leads. Arize AI starts at Free and Braintrust at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Arize AI or Braintrust?
Arize AI has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Arize AI and On request for Braintrust.
Does Arize AI or Braintrust run on more platforms?
Arize AI runs on web, api. Braintrust runs on Web.
Can I use Arize AI for free?
Yes. Arize AI has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Braintrust starts at On request.
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 Braintrust is typically brought in for.
What can Arize AI do that Braintrust cannot?
Arize AI covers End-to-end tracing, Evaluation framework, Prompt testing and improvement, Alyx AI engineering agent.

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
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
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
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