What is Helicone?
Helicone is an LLMOps platform that helps you build reliable AI applications. It acts as a gateway between your app and LLM providers like OpenAI and Anthropic, giving you a central place to route, debug, and analyze requests.
You start by connecting your LLM API calls through Helicone. The dashboard then shows you requests, segments, sessions, and users. You can use HQL to query your data, set up rate limits and alerts, and manage prompts and datasets. The playground lets you test and improve your prompts.
Helicone suits developers and teams building AI-powered products who need visibility into performance and costs. The website mentions a 7-day free trial with no credit card required, but does not detail ongoing pricing plans.
Helicone features
- Request tracking: See every LLM request in one dashboard with details on latency and cost.
- Segments and sessions: Group requests by user or session to understand usage patterns.
- HQL queries: Write queries to filter and analyze your LLM traffic data.
- Rate limits and alerts: Set limits and get notified when your app hits thresholds.
- Prompt playground: Test and refine prompts with your datasets before deploying.
What you can do with Helicone
- Monitor LLM API costs and performance across your application.
- Debug failed requests by tracing them through the gateway.
- Set up alerts to catch issues before they affect users.
- Manage and version prompts for different models.
How to get started with Helicone
- Sign up for a free trial on Helicone's website without a credit card.
- Connect your LLM provider API keys through the dashboard.
- Route your app's requests through Helicone and start monitoring.
Tips for better results with Helicone
- Route all your LLM calls through Helicone from day one so you capture full request history, latency, and cost data before you need to debug an issue.
- Use HQL queries to filter requests by user, session, or error type, and save those queries to spot patterns that the default dashboard view hides.
- Set up rate limits and alerts in Helicone early, especially for production apps, so you get notified before cost spikes or failures reach your users.
- Test prompts in the Helicone playground with your own datasets before deploying, and version them there so you can roll back if a change hurts performance.
Helicone pricing
Helicone offers a free trial before you pay. Check helicone.ai for current plans.
What to check before you rely on Helicone
- Confirm what happens after the 7-day free trial ends, since the website does not state ongoing pricing or whether you need a paid plan to keep using Helicone.
- Verify that Helicone supports the exact LLM providers and SDK versions your app uses, since integrations are listed but not detailed for every option.
- Check your data privacy requirements against Helicone's terms and privacy policy, because the website does not specify where request data is stored or for how long.
Who Helicone is for
Helicone suits developers, AI engineering teams and LLM app builders. If that is not you, the AI developer platforms below may fit better.
Similar tools compared with Helicone
| Tool | What it is | Pricing |
|---|---|---|
| Helicone | AI gateway and LLM observability platform | Free trial |
| SiVideoAPI | Unified API for top AI video models | Freemium |
| OpenSI | AI model comparison and pricing tool | See website |
| OpenRouter | Unified API for many AI models | Freemium |
| Ollama | Run open models locally or cloud | Freemium |
Helicone FAQ
What does Helicone do?
It routes, debugs, and analyzes requests to LLM APIs like OpenAI and Anthropic. You get a dashboard to monitor performance, costs, and errors across your AI app.
Is Helicone free to use?
The website offers a 7-day free trial with no credit card required. It does not state whether there is a permanent free plan or only paid plans after the trial.
Who is Helicone for?
It is built for developers and teams creating AI applications. The site says the fastest-growing AI companies use it, so it fits startups and established engineering teams.
Which LLM providers does Helicone support?
It lists integrations with OpenAI, Anthropic, Azure, LiteLLM, Anyscale, Together AI, and OpenRouter. Other providers can be added through its gateway.
Can Helicone export my request data or connect to other tools?
The Helicone website does not mention specific export options or integrations beyond the LLM providers listed, such as OpenAI, Anthropic, Azure, and others. To see if Helicone can export data or connect to your existing tools, check the Docs section on the website for the most current information.
Does Helicone run on my device or is it cloud-based?
Helicone is a cloud-based platform that you access through a dashboard after connecting your LLM API calls. The website does not mention any on-premise or local installation options. For details on deployment or system requirements, review the Docs section on the Helicone website.
What does the 7-day free trial of Helicone include?
The Helicone website states that the free trial lasts 7 days and requires no credit card. It does not specify which features are included during the trial. To learn what the trial covers, visit the Pricing page on the Helicone website for the most accurate details.
