What is Helicone?
Helicone gives AI developers a single gateway to manage, monitor, and debug large language model requests. It supports over 100 models through one SDK. Teams get visibility into usage, costs, and performance within minutes of integration.
Helicone acts as a proxy layer between your application and AI providers like OpenAI, Anthropic, and Azure. It captures every request and response, then surfaces metrics around latency, cost, and error rates. Developers can cache responses, set rate limits, and configure alerts without changing their core application logic. The platform also provides tools for analyzing prompt effectiveness and usage patterns across different models. Switching between providers requires no code rewrites because Helicone abstracts the API layer. This makes it straightforward for teams to compare model performance and optimize their AI stack over time.
Ideal Customer Profile
AI teams at startups and scale-ups building production LLM applications who need centralized observability across multiple model providers.
Key Features
- Single SDK for 100+ AI models
- Switch providers without code rewrites
- Request logging and replay
- Rate limiting and alerting
- Response caching
- Cost and usage analytics
- Prompt performance tracking
- SOC-2 and HIPAA compliance on higher tiers
- Open-source SDK
- Setup in under five minutes
How to use Helicone
Teams integrate Helicone by pointing their existing API calls at the Helicone gateway endpoint. The SDK handles routing to the chosen provider and logs all interaction data automatically. From there, developers use the dashboard to inspect individual requests, track aggregate metrics, and set up monitoring rules.
Pricing
Free Hobby plan available with 10,000 requests. Paid plans start at $79 per month for the Pro tier.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you integrate Helicone into an existing application?
You connect through a single SDK that supports over 100 AI models. The setup takes minutes and requires minimal code changes.
What does Helicone cost?
A free Hobby plan includes 10,000 requests per month. Paid tiers range from $79 to $799 per month with usage-based pricing available.
Why should teams choose Helicone over alternatives?
It offers provider flexibility with no vendor lock-in and an open-source SDK. Teams also get cost tracking and debugging tools purpose-built for LLM workloads.
How does Helicone process and route AI requests?
All requests pass through the Helicone gateway, which routes them to your configured provider. The platform logs responses, caches results, and surfaces performance analytics.
Is there a free version of Helicone?
Yes. The Hobby plan is free and includes 10,000 requests, 1 GB of storage, and 7-day data retention.
Which AI providers does Helicone support?
Helicone integrates with major providers including OpenAI, Anthropic, and Azure. This allows teams to work with a wide range of models through one interface.
