--- title: "helicone vs langtrace" type: "comparison" canonical_url: "https://www.graphcanon.com/compare/helicone-helicone-vs-scale3-labs-langtrace" tools: ["helicone-helicone", "scale3-labs-langtrace"] --- # helicone vs langtrace Neutral, constraint-first comparison with live GitHub stats. | | [helicone](/tools/helicone-helicone.md) | [langtrace](/tools/scale3-labs-langtrace.md) | | --- | --- | --- | | Tagline | Ice-cold observability for LLMs. | Open Source Observability for LLM Applications | | Stars | 5,920 | 1,213 | | Forks | 622 | 124 | | Open issues | 124 | 1 | | Language | TypeScript | TypeScript | | Adopt for | Helicone is an open-source LLM observability platform that supports monitoring, evaluation, and experimentation of Large Language Models using a simple integration. It provides advanced tracing, intelligent routing, cost | Langtrace is an open-source observability software that provides real-time monitoring and performance insights for applications leveraging LLM APIs, vector databases, and LLM-based frameworks through Open Telemetry. It's | | Persona | - | - | | Runtime | - | - | | License | Apache-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 implies that any changes made to the software must be released under the same license, which might limit its use in commercial products closed off to users. | | Categories | Evaluation & Observability, Inference & Serving | Evaluation & Observability | ## Trust and health _Sourced signals - not a safety guarantee. No winner column._ | | [helicone](/tools/helicone-helicone.md) | [langtrace](/tools/scale3-labs-langtrace.md) | | --- | --- | --- | | Maintenance | Very active (96%) | Slowing (36%) | | Days since push | 3d | 232d | | Open issues (now) | 124 | 1 | | Full report | [trust report](/tools/helicone-helicone/trust.md) | [trust report](/tools/scale3-labs-langtrace/trust.md) | **Typed relationship:** helicone _(alternative)_ langtrace Helicone provides tracking and evaluation of AI agents, a space that overlaps significantly with what Langtrace offers for LLM observability. ## Decision facts: helicone - **Pricing:** freemium - Helicone offers a free tier (generous monthly 10k requests/month). Pricing details for additional usage tiers are available on their official pricing page. - **Requirements:** Ensure TypeScript is supported in your project environment since Helicone's API is compatible with TypeScript.; Before integrating Helicone, verify that intelligent routing and fallback mechanisms align with the requirements of your LLM deployment scenario. - **Adopt for:** Helicone is an open-source LLM observability platform that supports monitoring, evaluation, and experimentation of Large Language Models using a simple integration. It provides advanced tracing, intelligent routing, cost ## Decision facts: langtrace - **Requirements:** Self-hosting is available as an option if desired. - **Adopt for:** Langtrace is an open-source observability software that provides real-time monitoring and performance insights for applications leveraging LLM APIs, vector databases, and LLM-based frameworks through Open Telemetry. It's - **License detail:** AGPL-3.0 implies that any changes made to the software must be released under the same license, which might limit its use in commercial products closed off to users. ## Choose when ### Choose helicone if… - License: helicone is Apache-2.0, langtrace is AGPL-3.0. - Pricing: Helicone offers a free tier (generous monthly 10k requests/month). Pricing details for additional usage tiers are available on their official pricing page.. - Requirements: Ensure TypeScript is supported in your project environment since Helicone's API is compatible with TypeScript.; Before integrating Helicone, verify that intelligent routing and fallback mechanisms align with the requirements of your LLM deployment scenario.. - Helicone provides tracking and evaluation of AI agents, a space that overlaps significantly with what Langtrace offers for LLM observability. - Tags unique to helicone: agent-monitoring, evaluation, cost-tracking, model-routing. - Also covers Inference & Serving. - When you need to integrate multiple AI models with one API key through the OpenAI API, including automatic fallbacks. ### Choose langtrace if… - License: langtrace is AGPL-3.0, helicone is Apache-2.0. - Requirements: Self-hosting is available as an option if desired.. - Helicone provides tracking and evaluation of AI agents, a space that overlaps significantly with what Langtrace offers for LLM observability. - Tags unique to langtrace: evaluations, llm, ai, datasets. - - When you are developing or managing applications that heavily rely on LLM APIs and want to capture, debug, and analyze traces and metrics in real-time using Open Telemetry. ## When NOT to use helicone - When the requirement demands strict adherence to proprietary systems, as Helicone encourages open-source development. - For projects that do not necessitate monitoring metrics such as cost and latency tracking via an external platform. - If your application does not need intelligent routing across multiple AI models or fallback mechanisms. ## When NOT to use langtrace - - If you need proprietary features absent from the AGPL-3.0 open-source license, as Langtrace's nature may limit its use in closed or commercial projects. - - For organizations with existing observability solutions deeply integrated into their infrastructure that do not benefit significantly from adding an additional layer of monitoring. ## Common questions ### What is the difference between helicone and langtrace? helicone: Ice-cold observability for LLMs.. langtrace: Open Source Observability for LLM Applications. See the comparison table for live GitHub stats and shared categories. ### When should I choose helicone over langtrace? Choose helicone over langtrace when License: helicone is Apache-2.0, langtrace is AGPL-3.0; Pricing: Helicone offers a free tier (generous monthly 10k requests/month). Pricing details for additional usage tiers are available on their official pricing page.; Requirements: Ensure TypeScript is supported in your project environment since Helicone's API is compatible with TypeScript.; Before integrating Helicone, verify that intelligent routing and fallback mechanisms align with the requirements of your LLM deployment scenario.; Helicone provides tracking and evaluation of AI agents, a space that overlaps significantly with what Langtrace offers for LLM observability; Tags unique to helicone: agent-monitoring, evaluation, cost-tracking, model-routing; Also covers Inference & Serving; When you need to integrate multiple AI models with one API key through the OpenAI API, including automatic fallbacks. ### When should I choose langtrace over helicone? Choose langtrace over helicone when License: langtrace is AGPL-3.0, helicone is Apache-2.0; Requirements: Self-hosting is available as an option if desired.; Helicone provides tracking and evaluation of AI agents, a space that overlaps significantly with what Langtrace offers for LLM observability; Tags unique to langtrace: evaluations, llm, ai, datasets; - When you are developing or managing applications that heavily rely on LLM APIs and want to capture, debug, and analyze traces and metrics in real-time using Open Telemetry. ### When should I avoid helicone? When the requirement demands strict adherence to proprietary systems, as Helicone encourages open-source development. For projects that do not necessitate monitoring metrics such as cost and latency tracking via an external platform. If your application does not need intelligent routing across multiple AI models or fallback mechanisms. ### When should I avoid langtrace? - If you need proprietary features absent from the AGPL-3.0 open-source license, as Langtrace's nature may limit its use in closed or commercial projects. - For organizations with existing observability solutions deeply integrated into their infrastructure that do not benefit significantly from adding an additional layer of monitoring. ### Is helicone or langtrace more popular on GitHub? helicone has more GitHub stars (5,920 vs 1,213). Stars measure visibility, not whether either tool fits your constraints. ### Are helicone and langtrace open source? Yes - both are open-source projects on GitHub (helicone: Apache-2.0, langtrace: AGPL-3.0). ### Where can I find alternatives to helicone or langtrace? GraphCanon lists graph-backed alternatives at /tools/helicone-helicone/alternatives and /tools/scale3-labs-langtrace/alternatives (/tools/helicone-helicone/alternatives.md, /tools/scale3-labs-langtrace/alternatives.md), ranked by typed relationship edges rather than popularity votes. ### Is there a machine-readable version of this comparison? Yes. The markdown twin at /compare/helicone-helicone-vs-scale3-labs-langtrace.md mirrors this page for agents and LLM crawlers, with the same stats table and FAQ answers. ### Which is better maintained, helicone or langtrace? helicone: Very active. langtrace: Slowing. Compare maintenance labels, days since push, and release cadence in the trust section below - stars alone do not measure maintenance. ### Where are the full trust reports for helicone and langtrace? GraphCanon publishes per-repo trust reports with dated maintenance, provenance, and scan summaries: helicone: /tools/helicone-helicone/trust; langtrace: /tools/scale3-labs-langtrace/trust. --- **Machine-readable endpoints** - JSON: [`/api/graphcanon/graph?tool=helicone-helicone`](/api/graphcanon/graph?tool=helicone-helicone) - LLM index: [/llms.txt](/llms.txt) - Full corpus: [/llms-full.txt](/llms-full.txt) _GraphCanon - The knowledge graph for AI development. https://www.graphcanon.com/_