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Helicone vs OpenLIT
Quick verdict
Key difference: OpenLIT is OpenTelemetry-native (no lock-in) while Helicone uses a proprietary SDK.
Side-by-side comparison from the Agent Observability Index: licensing, self-hosting, pricing model and integrations — no vendor copy, primary sources linked.
| Helicone | OpenLIT | |
|---|---|---|
| One-liner | Proxy/gateway-based LLM logging with one-line setup, unified cost and latency visibility across providers; now under Mintlify ownership. | OpenTelemetry-native open-source platform covering LLM tracing, GPU monitoring, guardrails and a prompt vault with one-line auto-instrumentation of 50+ providers. |
| Category | Observability & Tracing | Observability & Tracing |
| OpenTelemetry-native | No | Yes |
| Open source | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hostable | Yes | Yes |
| Pricing model | freemium | free |
| Pricing notes | Free tier + per-seat paid plans; reported in maintenance mode after Mintlify acquisition (Mar 2026) | Apache-2.0, fully free self-hosted; no managed cloud tier |
| Frameworks | openai-sdk, anthropic, langchain, litellm, vercel-ai | opentelemetry, openai-sdk, anthropic, langchain, llamaindex, ollama |
| GitHub stars | 5.8k | 2.5k |
| Maturity (GitHub signal) | 97/100 (Mature) | 92/100 (Mature) |
| Funding / ownership | YC W23; acquired by Mintlify (Mar 2026) | — |
How to choose
- Both link to primary pricing sources below — verify current tiers before committing; this market shifts monthly.
Frequently asked questions
Is Helicone or OpenLIT open source?
Helicone: Yes. OpenLIT: Yes.
Can Helicone and OpenLIT be self-hosted?
Helicone: Yes. OpenLIT: Yes.
Helicone vs OpenLIT: which should I choose?
Key difference: OpenLIT is OpenTelemetry-native (no lock-in) while Helicone uses a proprietary SDK.