Softwr

AI · head to head

Helicone vs Northflank

Helicone logo

Helicone

AI

Open-source LLM observability and gateway platform for AI applications

From
Free
Rated
-
Northflank logo

Northflank

Cloud

The runtime platform for AI-native companies

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.; Northflank pricing complexity with multiple rate dimensions
  • They diverge on capability: Helicone covers Request dashboard and tracking, Northflank covers Application deployments.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Helicone and Northflank actually diverge.

Attributes where Helicone and Northflank differ
AttributeHeliconeNorthflank
Pricing modelfreemiumUnknown
Platformsweb, apiAWS, GCP, Azure, On-premises
CategoryAICloud

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 Northflank

  • Application deployments
  • GPU support
  • Preview environments
  • Database management
  • Multi-cloud support
  • GitOps integration

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

Northflank

  • Deploying AI inference models with GPU accelerationnot Helicone
  • Running training workloads on distributed GPUsnot Helicone
  • Building microservices with multi-cloud reliabilitynot 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.

Northflank

  • Pricing complexity with multiple rate dimensions
  • GPU costs can be expensive for large-scale deployments
  • Learning curve for Kubernetes concepts

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

Northflank

Free
  • Sandbox (Free)Free
    • Always-on compute with no sleeping
    • 2 free services
    • 1 free database
  • Pay-as-you-go$undefined/usage
    • CPU: $0.01667 per vCPU per hour
    • Memory: $0.00833 per GB per hour
    • Network egress: $0.06 per GB
  • Enterprise$undefined/custom
    • Custom pricing with volume discounts
    • Invoice-based billing
    • Annual commitments

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.

Choose Northflank if

  • You need application deployments.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on AWS, GCP, Azure, On-premises.
  • You also want gpu support.

Questions people ask

Is Helicone or Northflank better?
Neither clearly leads. Helicone starts at Free and Northflank at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Helicone or Northflank?
Helicone starts at Free and Northflank at Free.
Does Helicone or Northflank run on more platforms?
Helicone runs on web, api. Northflank runs on AWS, GCP, Azure, On-premises.
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 Northflank is typically brought in for.
What can Helicone do that Northflank cannot?
Helicone covers Request dashboard and tracking, Sessions and segments, Helicone Query Language (HQL), Prompt datasets and improvement. Northflank covers Application deployments, GPU support, Preview environments, Database management.

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
Northflank: What is included in the free Sandbox tier?

The Sandbox includes always-on compute, 2 free services, 1 free database, 2 free cron jobs, and is perfect for testing applications.

Source
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
Northflank: How much does CPU cost on Northflank?

CPU costs $0.01667 per vCPU per hour on pay-as-you-go pricing.

Source
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
Northflank: What GPUs are available?

GPU options include NVIDIA L4 at $0.80/hr through H100 at $2.74/hr.

Source
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