How is Helicone's usage-based pricing calculated?

After free tiers, costs are based on request volume and storage used. The pricing calculator on their site provides estimates.

Does Helicone work with my LLM provider?

Yes, it supports 100+ models from OpenAI, Anthropic, Azure, Google, Together AI, Groq, and more through a unified OpenAI-compatible gateway.

What happens if I exceed my limits?

On paid plans, you are charged for overages based on usage. The free plan likely stops logging. Check their docs for specifics.

Is the AI Gateway a proxy?

Yes, it's a proxy that sits between your app and LLM providers, adding logging, caching, rate limiting, and fallbacks without code changes.

Can I self-host Helicone?

Yes, the platform is open-source (check their GitHub) and supports self-hosting for full data control, though it requires setup.

Helicone Query Language is a proprietary SQL-like language for advanced filtering and analysis of logged LLM requests and user sessions.

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Helicone

Helicone is an open-source platform for monitoring and optimizing LLM applications. It provides a unified API gateway that acts as an OpenAI-compatible proxy, routing requests to over 100 models from providers like OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google. This allows developers to manage provider keys centrally, handle fallbacks, and control costs with a simple 1-line integration. Core capabilities include detailed request logging, session and user analytics, custom property tracking, a proprietary query language (HQL) for deep analysis, prompt management with versioning, and an evaluation playground for testing. It features advanced gateway functions like caching, custom rate limits, and security filters. Designed for AI engineers, developers, and startup founders building production LLM applications. It solves key problems in observability, debugging, and performance tuning for any stack using large language models.

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Added on

Sep 22, 2026

Open-sourceAI GatewayLLM ObservabilityRequest loggingPrompt managementUsage-based pricingProvider routingOpenAI-compatible

Product information

Everything worth knowing about Helicone

The complete picture — from everyday features to the technical detail builders and IT folks dig for.

Core features

What it actually does

AI Gateway & Provider Routing

Unified OpenAI-compatible API to access 100+ LLM models from providers like OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google. Includes automatic fallbacks if a provider is down.

Request Logging & Observability

Automatically log and monitor all LLM requests with a dashboard for requests, sessions, user analytics, and custom properties. Supports HQL (Helicone Query Language) for advanced analysis.

Prompt Management & Testing

Features a Playground, prompt versioning, datasets for experiments, and scoring to iterate on and test prompts effectively.

Performance Monitoring & Alerts

Set up alerts and generate reports to track performance, costs, and usage. Monitor rate limits and detect critical bugs.

Technical capabilities

Open-Source & Self-Hosting

The core platform is open-source (6.1K GitHub stars), allowing for self-hosting and full data control.

Usage-Based Gateway & Caching

Implements a gateway layer for request caching, custom rate limits, and LLM security features to optimize cost and reliability.

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Who uses it

Real use cases, no hype

LLM Request Debugging

Trace, log, and replay failed or slow API calls across any provider to diagnose issues quickly.

Cost Monitoring & Optimization

Track token usage and costs per user, session, or custom property to control AI spend.

Prompt Engineering & A/B Testing

Manage, version, and test prompts in a playground to evaluate performance across datasets.

Production Observability

Monitor latency, error rates, and user analytics in real-time with alerts and reports.

Multi-Provider Routing

Use the AI Gateway to switch between LLM providers (OpenAI, Anthropic, etc.) with automatic fallbacks.

User-Level Analytics

Segment and analyze LLM usage patterns by user, session, or custom attributes.

Secure & Compliant AI Apps

Implement rate limiting, caching, and LLM security features for enterprise deployments.

What's great

Open-source with a 1-line integration for major LLM providers.
Massive model and provider support (100+ models from OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, etc.)
Generous free tier with 10K requests and 1GB storage.
Unified AI Gateway replaces managing multiple API keys.

Technical strengths

Advanced observability: sessions, user tracking, custom properties, and HQL for deep analysis.
Built-in gateway features: caching, rate limiting, and automatic fallbacks.
Self-hosting option available for full data autonomy.

Where it falls short