Software · head to head
Helicone vs Humanloop
Helicone
Software
Open-source LLM observability and gateway platform for AI applications
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Each has a real cost: Helicone the free Hobby plan is capped at 10,000 requests per month, which teams with production traffic can exceed quickly.; Humanloop the free plan caps at 2 members, 50 eval runs, and 10,000 logs per month; every tier above that requires contacting sales, with no self-serve paid plan published, as of August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Helicone and Humanloop actually diverge.
Identical on both: starting price (Free), pricing model (freemium), free tier (Yes), 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 Helicone
- Request dashboard and tracking
- Sessions and segments
- Helicone Query Language (HQL)
- Prompt datasets and improvement
- Playground
- Rate limits and alerts
Only in Humanloop
Nothing recorded that Helicone does not also cover.
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Helicone
- Monitoring cost and latency of production LLM applicationsnot Humanloop
- Debugging multi-step agent sessionsnot Humanloop
- Managing and iterating on prompts across a teamnot Humanloop
- Routing requests across multiple LLM providersnot Humanloop
Humanloop
No use cases recorded yet. See the Humanloop review.
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Helicone
- The free Hobby plan is capped at 10,000 requests per month, which teams with production traffic can exceed quickly.
- Advanced compliance features like SOC 2 and HIPAA are only available starting at the $799/month Team plan.
- Usage beyond the free tier is billed on top of the base subscription, adding cost unpredictability at scale.
- On-premises deployment is restricted to the custom Enterprise tier.
Humanloop
- The free plan caps at 2 members, 50 eval runs, and 10,000 logs per month; every tier above that requires contacting sales, with no self-serve paid plan published, as of August 2026.
Pricing, plan by plan
Helicone
Free- HobbyFree
- 10,000 free requests
- 1 GB storage
- 1 seat
- Pro$79/month
- 10K free requests included, usage-based beyond
- 7-day free trial
- Unlimited playgrounds and workspaces
- Team$799/month
- 5 organizations
- SOC 2 and HIPAA compliance
- Dedicated Slack channel access
- Enterprise$undefined/mo
- Custom MSAs and SAML SSO
- On-premises deployment
- Bulk cloud discounts
Humanloop
FreeNo published plan breakdown. See the Humanloop review.
Which should you pick?
Choose Helicone if
- You need request dashboard and tracking.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on web, api.
- You also want sessions and segments.
Questions people ask
- Is Helicone or Humanloop better?
- Neither clearly leads. Helicone starts at Free and Humanloop at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Helicone or Humanloop?
- Helicone starts at Free and Humanloop at Free.
- Does Helicone or Humanloop run on more platforms?
- Helicone runs on web, api. Humanloop runs on Web.
- Can I use Helicone for free?
- Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
- What is Helicone best used for?
- Helicone is most often used for monitoring cost and latency of production llm applications, debugging multi-step agent sessions, managing and iterating on prompts across a team, routing requests across multiple llm providers. Of those, monitoring cost and latency of production llm applications and debugging multi-step agent sessions are not what Humanloop is typically brought in for.
- What can Helicone do that Humanloop cannot?
- Helicone covers Request dashboard and tracking, Sessions and segments, Helicone Query Language (HQL), Prompt datasets and improvement.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
Helicone: What does Helicone cost?
Helicone offers a free Hobby plan, a Pro plan at $79/month, a Team plan at $799/month, and custom Enterprise pricing, with usage-based charges applying beyond included request limits.
SourceHelicone: Is there a free plan, and what are its limits?
The free Hobby plan includes 10,000 requests per month, 1 GB of storage, 1 seat, and 1 organization, aimed at kickstarting AI projects.
SourceHelicone: Are there discounts available?
Helicone offers 50% off the first year for qualifying startups, discounts for non-profits, a $100 annual credit for open-source projects, and free access for students.
SourceRelated pages
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