Softwr

Software Development · head to head

Braintrust vs LangSmith

Braintrust logo

Braintrust

Software Development

The active observability platform for agents

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
LangSmith logo

LangSmith

Software Development

Know what your agents are really doing

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Braintrust enterprise plan pricing not published, requires custom quote; LangSmith usage-based pricing applies beyond included traces; LCU charges at $1.50/LCU and LSU at $1.00/LSU
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 29 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Braintrust and LangSmith actually diverge.

Attributes where Braintrust and LangSmith differ
AttributeBraintrustLangSmith

Identical on both: starting price (Free), pricing model (freemium), free tier (Yes), platforms (Web), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Software Development).

What people use each for

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

Braintrust

  • Monitoring production AI agents for qualitynot LangSmith
  • Detecting patterns in agent failuresnot LangSmith
  • Defining quality expectations before shipping agentsnot LangSmith
  • Tracking prompts and tool calls in productionnot LangSmith

LangSmith

  • Tracing agent execution step-by-step in productionnot Braintrust
  • Detecting agent failures affecting latency and costnot Braintrust
  • Monitoring token usage and latency percentilesnot Braintrust
  • Clustering traces to identify failure modesnot Braintrust
  • Self-hosting traces within VPC for data residencynot Braintrust

Where each one falls short

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

Braintrust

  • Enterprise plan pricing not published, requires custom quote
  • Pro plan includes 6-12 months free discount for startups only

LangSmith

  • Usage-based pricing applies beyond included traces; LCU charges at $1.50/LCU and LSU at $1.00/LSU
  • Free tier limited to 1 seat and 5,000 traces per month

Pricing, plan by plan

Braintrust

Free
  • StarterFree
    • $10 model credits monthly included
    • 1 GB processed data monthly
    • 10000 scores monthly
  • Pro$249/month
    • $249 model credits monthly included
    • 5 GB processed data monthly
    • 50000 scores monthly
  • Enterprise$null/month
    • Custom data retention and export capabilities
    • RBAC and premium support
    • On-premises or hosted solutions available

LangSmith

Free
  • DeveloperFree
    • 1 seat maximum
    • 5,000 base traces monthly
  • Plus$39/month
    • Unlimited seats
    • 10,000 base traces monthly
    • 1 free small serverless deployment
  • Enterprise$null/mo
    • Custom pricing
    • Self-hosted and hybrid options
    • Custom SSO, ABAC, RBAC

Which should you pick?

Choose Braintrust if

  • You want to start without paying.
Braintrust review

Choose LangSmith if

  • You want to start without paying.
LangSmith review

Questions people ask

Is Braintrust or LangSmith better?
Neither clearly leads. Braintrust starts at Free and LangSmith at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Braintrust or LangSmith?
Braintrust starts at Free and LangSmith at Free.
Does Braintrust or LangSmith run on more platforms?
Both run on Web, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
Can I use Braintrust for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Braintrust best used for?
Braintrust is most often used for monitoring production ai agents for quality, detecting patterns in agent failures, defining quality expectations before shipping agents, tracking prompts and tool calls in production. Of those, monitoring production ai agents for quality and detecting patterns in agent failures are not what LangSmith is typically brought in for.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Braintrust: Does Braintrust have a free plan?

Braintrust Starter plan is free and includes $10 model credits monthly, 1 GB processed data, 10000 scores monthly, and 14-day data retention with unlimited users and projects. No credit card required.

Source
LangSmith: What does LangSmith cost?

LangSmith Developer plan is free with up to 5,000 base traces monthly. Plus plan costs $39/month per seat with 10,000 base traces included. Enterprise pricing is custom.

Source
Braintrust: How much does the Braintrust Pro plan cost?

Braintrust Pro plan costs $249 per month and includes $249 model credits, 5 GB processed data, 50000 scores monthly, and 30-day data retention. Qualifying startups receive 6-12 months free.

Source
LangSmith: How does LangSmith usage-based pricing work?

Beyond included traces, LangSmith charges $1.50 per LCU (LangChain Compute Unit) for computational work and $1.00 per LSU (LangChain Storage Unit) for data storage.

Source
Braintrust: What are Braintrust's overage charges?

Braintrust charges overage rates after monthly allocations: model credits beyond monthly allotment are charged at token rates, data overage is $4 per GB on Starter or $3 per GB on Pro, scores overage is $2.50 per 1000 on Starter or $1.50 per 1000 on Pro. Extended data retention beyond the included period costs $0.50 per GB per month.

Source
LangSmith: Is there a free tier for LangSmith?

Yes, the Developer plan is free with limits on seat count (1 seat maximum) and trace volume (5,000 base traces per month).

Source
Share

Related pages

More on Braintrust

More on LangSmith

Keep looking

Other head to heads