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Helicone vs Portkey
Quick verdict
Key difference: Portkey 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 | Portkey | |
|---|---|---|
| One-liner | Proxy/gateway-based LLM logging with one-line setup, unified cost and latency visibility across providers; now under Mintlify ownership. | AI gateway routing 1,600+ models with built-in logging, cost tracking, caching and guardrails; observability comes as a side effect of the proxy layer. |
| Category | Observability & Tracing | Observability & Tracing |
| OpenTelemetry-native | No | Yes |
| Open source | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hostable | Yes | Yes |
| Pricing model | freemium | freemium |
| Pricing notes | Free tier + per-seat paid plans; reported in maintenance mode after Mintlify acquisition (Mar 2026) | OSS gateway free (MIT); cloud free tier + paid plans; enterprise via Palo Alto Networks |
| Frameworks | openai-sdk, anthropic, langchain, litellm, vercel-ai | openai-sdk, anthropic, langchain, llamaindex, vercel-ai, litellm |
| GitHub stars | 5.8k | 12.1k |
| Maturity (GitHub signal) | 97/100 (Mature) | 100/100 (Mature) |
| Funding / ownership | YC W23; acquired by Mintlify (Mar 2026) | $15M Series A (Elevation, Feb 2026); acquired by Palo Alto Networks (May 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 Portkey open source?
Helicone: Yes. Portkey: Yes.
Can Helicone and Portkey be self-hosted?
Helicone: Yes. Portkey: Yes.
Helicone vs Portkey: which should I choose?
Key difference: Portkey is OpenTelemetry-native (no lock-in) while Helicone uses a proprietary SDK.