Helicone vs LangWatch
Helicone
helicone.ai
LangWatch
langwatch.aiSide by side
| Figure | Helicone | LangWatch |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $79/mo | €29/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | — | Yes |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | — | Yes |
| Linux | — | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 4 | 3 |
| Spec score · AI Agent Observability Tools | 8.3 (#13) | 9.1 (#5) |
| Spec score · Llm Monitoring | 8.1 (#13) | 8.9 (#7) |
| Spec score · LLM Observability Tools | 8.2 (#14) | 9.0 (#6) |
| Spec score · AI LLM Observability Tools | 8.2 (#13) | 9.1 (#4) |
| Spec score · Model Monitoring Software | 8.2 (#14) | 9.0 (#5) |
| Compliance | Helicone states that its cloud is SOC 2, HIPAA, and GDPR compliant. | LangWatch states ISO 27001 certification, GDPR compliance, EU data residency and SOC 2 coverage through AWS. |
| Observability | Helicone visualizes multi-step LLM interactions, logs requests in real time, and helps identify error root causes. | Tracing captures nested agent spans, sessions, users, token usage, cost, topics and multimodal payloads. |
| Open source | Helicone describes itself as proudly open-source and invites contributors to its community. | The site describes LangWatch as open source under Apache 2.0. |
| Self-hosting | Helicone can be deployed in a customer's infrastructure through single-click deployment or a production-ready Helm chart. | Self-hosting is available with a Node.js command for local use and Docker, Kubernetes/Helm or VPC deployment options. |
| Support | The pricing page lists community support through GitHub and Discord. | Developer users receive GitHub and Discord community support, while Growth includes private Slack or Teams support. |
Plans
In their own words
Helicone
Helicone routes, debugs, and analyzes AI applications through a gateway and observability tools. The gateway provides access to more than 100 models through the OpenAI SDK by changing the model name, and supports load balancing, automatic failovers, and response caching across providers. Helicone logs requests in real time and visualizes multi-step LLM interactions to help locate error causes. Listed integrations include OpenAI, Anthropic, Azure, LiteLLM, Anyscale, Together AI, and OpenRouter. It can run in customer infrastructure through single-click deployment or a production-ready Helm chart; Helicone also states that its cloud is SOC 2, HIPAA, and GDPR compliant. A LangGraph integration tracks calls, sessions, performance, and costs, while an API cost calculator covers more than 300 models and providers. The free Hobby plan includes 10,000 requests, 1 GB storage, one seat, one organization, and seven days of retention. Pro costs $79.00 per month. A seven-day trial is advertised. Helicone says its services remain live in maintenance mode following acquisition by Mintlify, with security updates, new models, and bug and performance fixes continuing.
LangWatch
LangWatch is an AI agent engineering platform for teams preparing agents for production. Simulations cover multi-turn conversations, tool use, recovery, and business outcomes before launch. Evaluations can run on datasets, production traffic, or in CI/CD workflows that gate merges. Traces show agent steps alongside cost, tokens, duration, errors, evaluations, and annotations. Integrations include Python and TypeScript SDKs, OpenTelemetry, REST ingestion, model providers, and frameworks such as LangGraph, LangChain, CrewAI, and DSPy. Voice-agent testing supports OpenAI Realtime, Gemini, ElevenLabs, Google Live API, Pipecat, WebSocket bots, and Twilio. Deployment options are managed cloud, self-hosted, and hybrid; self-hosting uses Docker Compose and the customer’s ClickHouse. LangWatch is open source under Apache 2.0. The Developer plan costs nothing and includes 50k events per month, 14-day data access, and two users. Growth costs €29 a month per core seat and includes 200k events. The trust center lists encryption, access controls, privacy features, and enterprise DPAs.