Helicone AI

Building AI applications shouldn't be a guessing game, yet many developers struggle to understand what's happening inside their language models. Helicone AI solves this problem by providing complete visibility into your AI applications with just one line of code.

This open-source platform transforms how developers monitor and optimize their Large Language Model deployments. Founded in 2023 and backed by Y Combinator, Helicone has quickly become the go-to solution for thousands of AI developers worldwide.

Whether you're building chatbots, content generators, or complex AI agents, Helicone gives you the insights needed to deliver reliable, cost-effective applications. The platform supports over 100 AI models from providers like OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google, making it easy to track performance across different services.

Helicone AI is an open-source observability platform designed specifically for developers working with Large Language Models. Think of it as your AI application's dashboard that shows you everything happening under the hood.

The platform works as a smart proxy between your application and AI providers, capturing detailed logs, metrics, and performance data without requiring complex setup or code changes. What makes Helicone special is its simplicity - you just change one line in your code to start monitoring everything.

The platform tracks costs, latency, user interactions, and model performance in real-time. It also includes advanced features like prompt management, caching to reduce expenses, and intelligent retry mechanisms. Built by developers for developers, Helicone supports both cloud-hosted and self-hosted deployments, ensuring you maintain control over your data while getting powerful insights into your AI applications.

Getting started with Helicone is incredibly simple and takes just minutes. First, sign up for a free account at helicone.ai and generate your API key from the dashboard. The basic integration requires changing just one line of code in your existing application.

For OpenAI integration:

• Replace your base URL from https://api.openai.com/v1 to https://oai.helicone.ai/v1

• Add your Helicone API key to the headers

• Your existing code continues working normally

Key steps to maximize results:

• Set up custom properties to track users and sessions

• Use prompt management features to version your prompts

• Enable caching to reduce costs on repeated requests

• Configure alerts for unusual patterns or errors

• Explore the dashboard to understand usage patterns

The platform automatically starts logging all requests, providing instant visibility into costs, latency, and performance. You can track which users drive the most API usage, identify slow prompts, and spot errors before they impact users.

Helicone offers a comprehensive suite of tools designed to make AI development more efficient and reliable. The platform provides real-time monitoring and analytics, giving you instant insights into request volume, costs, latency patterns, and error rates across all your AI models.

Core features include:

• Prompt Management: Version control and experimentation for your prompts with A/B testing capabilities

• Smart Caching: Automatic caching of responses to reduce costs and improve speed

• Session Tracking: Group related requests to understand user journeys and conversation flows

• Custom Properties: Label requests with user IDs, environments, or any metadata for detailed analysis

• Gateway Features: Load balancing, failover, and rate limiting across multiple AI providers

• Evaluation Tools: Built-in evaluation frameworks to measure prompt performance and output quality

• Enterprise Security: SOC-2 Type II and GDPR compliance with optional data encryption

The platform supports over 100 AI models from major providers and offers flexible deployment options including cloud-hosted, self-hosted, and on-premise solutions for maximum control over your data.

Helicone offers flexible pricing that scales with your needs, starting with a generous free tier perfect for getting started.

• Free Plan: Get 10,000 logs per month with core monitoring features, custom properties, and basic analytics. Perfect for small projects and testing.

• Pro Plan ($20/month): Includes 10,000 logs plus usage-based pricing for additional logs at competitive rates. Features prompt management, advanced analytics, and priority support.

• Team Plan ($200/month): Designed for growing companies with unlimited logs, unlimited seats, collaborative workspaces, and enhanced security features including SOC-2 compliance.

• Enterprise Plan: Custom pricing with dedicated support, SAML SSO, on-premise deployment options, custom MSAs, and bulk discounts for large-scale operations.

Special discounts available including 50% off the first year for startups under 2 years old with less than $5M funding, plus academic discounts for students and educators.