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AI · head to head

Helicone vs Jitsu

Helicone logo

Helicone

AI

Open-source LLM observability and gateway platform for AI applications

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Jitsu logo

Jitsu

Developer Tools

Open source event pipeline that streams behavioural data to your own warehouse

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

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.; Jitsu jitsu is a pipeline, not a customer data platform, so identity resolution, audience building and reverse ETL are absent and a marketing team expecting Segment parity will be disappointed.
  • They diverge on capability: Helicone covers Request dashboard and tracking, Jitsu covers Event collection.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Helicone and Jitsu actually diverge.

Attributes where Helicone and Jitsu differ
AttributeHeliconeJitsu
Pricing modelfreemiumPer month by event volume
Platformsweb, apiWeb, Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, iOS, Android
CategoryAIDeveloper Tools

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated).

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 Jitsu

  • Event collection
  • Warehouse destinations
  • Connector syncs
  • Transformations
  • Bundled ClickHouse
  • Event debugger
  • Self-hosting
  • Custom domains

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 Jitsu
  • Debugging multi-step agent sessionsnot Jitsu
  • Managing and iterating on prompts across a teamnot Jitsu
  • Routing requests across multiple LLM providersnot Jitsu

Jitsu

  • A team paying five figures a year to a customer data platform when all it actually does is send events to Snowflakenot Helicone
  • An engineering group that needs event collection running inside its own VPC for data residency or security review reasonsnot Helicone
  • A product analytics setup that wants raw events in the warehouse as the source of truth rather than trapped in a vendor toolnot Helicone
  • A startup that needs first-party event collection on its own domain to reduce loss from tracker blocking without paying CDP pricesnot Helicone

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.

Jitsu

  • Jitsu is a pipeline, not a customer data platform, so identity resolution, audience building and reverse ETL are absent and a marketing team expecting Segment parity will be disappointed.
  • Connector sync frequency is deliberately tiered, with the free plan limited to manual runs and one daily sync, so anything approaching operational freshness requires the paid plan or self-hosting.
  • Self-hosting means you own the reliability of a system that drops data silently when misconfigured, and event loss is uniquely hard to notice because nothing errors, the numbers are just quietly lower.
  • The connector catalogue is far smaller than Fivetran or Airbyte, so if your requirement is pulling from many SaaS sources rather than pushing events, Jitsu is the wrong half of the problem.
  • It is a small company with a small commercial team, so enterprise procurement processes around security review, contractual SLAs and support escalation take longer than with an incumbent vendor.

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

Jitsu

Free
  • Open SourceFree
    • MIT licence
    • Self-host on any cloud
    • No usage limits
  • Cloud FreeFree
    • Unlimited captured events
    • 200,000 active events per month
    • Manual connector runs only
  • Business$99/month
    • 2,000,000 active events per month
    • $40 per additional million events
    • Hourly connector sync frequency
  • Enterprise$undefined/year
    • Custom event volume
    • One minute sync frequency
    • Unlimited active syncs

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.
Helicone review

Choose Jitsu if

  • You need event collection.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, iOS, Android.
  • You also want warehouse destinations.
Jitsu review

Questions people ask

Is Helicone or Jitsu better?
Neither clearly leads. Helicone starts at Free and Jitsu at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Helicone or Jitsu?
Helicone starts at Free and Jitsu at Free.
Does Helicone or Jitsu run on more platforms?
Helicone runs on web, api. Jitsu runs on Web, Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, iOS, Android.
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 Jitsu is typically brought in for.
What can Helicone do that Jitsu cannot?
Helicone covers Request dashboard and tracking, Sessions and segments, Helicone Query Language (HQL), Prompt datasets and improvement. Jitsu covers Event collection, Warehouse destinations, Connector syncs, Transformations.

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.

Source
Jitsu: Is Jitsu the same as Jitsi?

No. Jitsu is an open source event data pipeline. Jitsi is an unrelated video conferencing project.

Helicone: 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.

Source
Jitsu: Can I self-host for free?

Yes. The project is MIT licensed with no usage limits when self-hosted.

Helicone: 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.

Source
Jitsu: How does the cost compare with Segment?

The Business plan is 99 US dollars a month for two million active events, where a per-tracked-user CDP typically costs orders of magnitude more at comparable volume.

Jitsu: Does Jitsu do identity resolution?

No. It transports and transforms events; identity stitching and audiences are not part of the product.

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