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Software · head to head

Helicone vs Unleash

Helicone logo

Helicone

Software

Open-source LLM observability and gateway platform for AI applications

From
Free
Rated
-
Unleash logo

Unleash

Software

Open-source feature flag and experimentation service

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.; Unleash the Pay-As-You-Go plan is priced per seat, which can get costly for larger teams.
  • They diverge on capability: Helicone covers Request dashboard and tracking, Unleash covers Feature flags.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Helicone and Unleash actually diverge.

Attributes where Helicone and Unleash differ
AttributeHeliconeUnleash
Platformsweb, apiweb, api, linux

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 Unleash

  • Feature flags
  • A/B/n testing
  • Custom targeting
  • SDKs
  • SSO
  • Audit logs

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

Unleash

  • Gradual and progressive feature rolloutsnot Helicone
  • Running A/B/n experiments tied to flagsnot Helicone
  • Self-hosting feature management for compliance needsnot Helicone
  • Enterprise SSO-controlled feature flag governancenot 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.

Unleash

  • The Pay-As-You-Go plan is priced per seat, which can get costly for larger teams.
  • Self-hosted Enterprise requires a minimum of 5 seats and an annual contract.
  • Additional API traffic beyond the included quota is billed per million requests.
  • Advanced SLAs and dedicated customer success are reserved for the custom Enterprise tier.

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

Unleash

Free
  • Pay-As-You-Go$75/month
    • Cloud-hosted
    • 53M API requests/month included
    • Unlimited feature flags, projects and environments
  • Custom Enterprise$undefined/mo
    • Cloud, self-hosted or hybrid
    • Premium support options
    • 99.99% uptime SLA

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 Unleash if

  • You need feature flags.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on web, api, linux.
  • You also want a/b/n testing.

Questions people ask

Is Helicone or Unleash better?
Neither clearly leads. Helicone starts at Free and Unleash at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Helicone or Unleash?
Helicone starts at Free and Unleash at Free.
Does Helicone or Unleash run on more platforms?
Helicone runs on web, api. Unleash runs on web, api, linux.
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 Unleash is typically brought in for.
What can Helicone do that Unleash cannot?
Helicone covers Request dashboard and tracking, Sessions and segments, Helicone Query Language (HQL), Prompt datasets and improvement. Unleash covers Feature flags, A/B/n testing, Custom targeting, SDKs.

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
Unleash: What does Unleash cost?

Unleash offers a Pay-As-You-Go cloud plan at $75/seat/month with a 14-day free trial, plus a custom-priced Enterprise plan for self-hosted or hybrid deployments.

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
Unleash: How is usage metered?

The Pay-As-You-Go plan includes 53M API requests per month, with additional traffic billed at $5 per million requests thereafter.

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
Unleash: What does Unleash integrate with, and is there an API?

Unleash provides an API and 25+ official SDKs across languages, along with SSO integrations via SAML 2.0 and OpenID Connect.

Source
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