AI Tools · head to head
Helicone vs Together AI
Helicone
AI Tools
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.; Together AI fine tuning carries a minimum charge of $4.00 per job regardless of dataset size
- They diverge on capability: Helicone covers Request dashboard and tracking, Together AI covers Open-source models.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Helicone and Together AI actually diverge.
| Attribute | Helicone | Together AI |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | freemium | usage-based |
| Platforms | web, api | Api, Cloud |
| Category | AI Tools | Unknown |
| Founded | Unknown | 2022 |
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 Together AI
- Open-source models
- Fine-tuning
- Fast inference
- Embeddings
- REST API
- Python SDK
- OpenAI compatible
- Api support
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 Together AI
- Debugging multi-step agent sessionsnot Together AI
- Managing and iterating on prompts across a teamnot Together AI
- Routing requests across multiple LLM providersnot Together AI
Together AI
- Serverless inference against open source chat, vision, embedding, image and video modelsnot Helicone
- Renting dedicated single tenant H100, H200 or B200 GPU clusters by the hournot Helicone
- Fine tuning open weight models on a per token basisnot 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.
Together AI
- Fine tuning carries a minimum charge of $4.00 per job regardless of dataset size
- Reserved GPU commitments beyond 180 days are priced by contacting sales with no published rate
- Volume and enterprise discounts are quote only with no published threshold
- Reserved dedicated inference pricing is contact sales while only on demand rates of $5.49 to $8.99 per GPU hour are published
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
Together AI
Free- FreeFree
- $5 credits
- API access
- Pay-per-use$0.2/per-million-tokens
- All models
- Fine-tuning
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 Together AI if
- You need open-source models.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Api, Cloud.
- You also want fine-tuning.
Questions people ask
- Is Helicone or Together AI better?
- Neither clearly leads. Helicone starts at Free and Together AI at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Helicone or Together AI?
- Helicone starts at Free and Together AI at Free.
- Does Helicone or Together AI run on more platforms?
- Helicone runs on web, api. Together AI runs on Api, Cloud.
- 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 Together AI is typically brought in for.
- What can Helicone do that Together AI cannot?
- Helicone covers Request dashboard and tracking, Sessions and segments, Helicone Query Language (HQL), Prompt datasets and improvement. Together AI covers Open-source models, Fine-tuning, Fast inference, Embeddings.
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
More on Together AI
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