Helicone vs Portkey
Two of the most-asked-about agents in the developer-tools space. Here's how they actually stack up.
Helicone
LLM observability and cost monitoring for production AI applications
Free tier
Read full review →Portkey
AI gateway and observability platform: route, monitor, and control LLM API calls
Free tier
Read full review →Side-by-side comparison
| Helicone | Portkey | |
|---|---|---|
| Tagline | LLM observability and cost monitoring for production AI applications | AI gateway and observability platform: route, monitor, and control LLM API calls |
| Pricing | Free tier | Free tier |
| Categories | developer-tools, api, productivity | developer-tools, api |
| Made by | Helicone | Portkey |
| Launched | 2023-06 | 2023-08 |
| Platforms | Web, API | Web, API, Self-hosted |
| Status | active | active |
Helicone highlights
- + One-line integration via proxy URL change, no SDK required
- + Real-time cost tracking per model, user, and custom property
- + Request and response logging with full prompt and output capture
- + Latency monitoring and percentile breakdowns by model and endpoint
- + User segmentation: track costs and usage per end-user or organization
Portkey highlights
- + AI gateway: single API endpoint for 200+ LLMs via unified interface
- + Automatic fallback routing when primary provider fails or rate limits
- + Load balancing across multiple providers or model versions
- + Request caching to reduce costs and latency for repeated prompts
- + Full observability with request logging, cost tracking, and latency monitoring
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is better, Helicone or Portkey?
Neither is universally better. Helicone (Free tier) leans into developer-tools, while Portkey (Free tier) is closer to developer-tools. Pick based on which workflow you actually do every day.
What is the price difference between Helicone and Portkey?
Helicone is free tier. Portkey is free tier. See the pricing row in the comparison table.
Can I use Helicone and Portkey together?
In most cases, yes. They serve overlapping but distinct needs, so running them side by side is common until you decide which fits your workflow.