# Deep Dive: LangSmith vs. Helicone

## What Makes Helicone Different?
### 1. Helicone is Open-Source
Helicone is fully [open-source](https://github.com/helicone/helicone) and free to start. Companies can also [self-host](https://docs.helicone.ai/getting-started/self-host/overview) Helicone within their infrastructure. This ensures that you have full control over the application, flexibility, and customization tailored to specific business needs.

LangSmith is a closed-source solution, which means you're dependent on their development roadmap and pricing structure.

### 2. Ease of Integration
Developers often choose Helicone for our [simple proxy setup](https://docs.helicone.ai/integrations/openai/javascript). Simply by changing the base URL, you can start logging everything with any providers.

```python
https://oai.helicone.ai/v1 # new baseURL
https://api.openai.com/v1 # old baseURL
```

Being a proxy, Helicone offers caching, prompt threat detection, key vault, rate limiting, and other useful gateway features.

However, if you don't want to place Helicone in your critical path, you can use our [**async logging**](https://docs.helicone.ai/getting-started/integration-method/openllmetry) method.

## Latency Impact & Reliability 💡
Helicone is built on the edge using Cloudflare Workers to minimize time to response. This adds only ~50 ms for about 95% of the world's Internet-connected population. We're also proud of our 99.99% uptime in the last year.

### 3. Scalable Usage-Based Pricing
Helicone is more cost-effective than LangSmith for two reasons.

First, we operate on a **volumetric pricing model** that gets cheaper the more requests you have. Second, our paid tier starts at [$20/seat/month](/content/pricing/index.html), which gets you access to all features in Helicone, compared to $39/seat/month for LangSmith. Our seat-based pricing caps at **$200/mo** for fast-growing teams needing unlimited seats.

**Here's how the pricing scales between Helicone and LangSmith:**

| **Logs per month** | **Helicone** | **LangSmith** |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **10,000 logs** | Free | Free |
| **25,000 logs** | $24.00 | $7.50 |
| **50,000 logs** | $44.00 | $20.00 |
| **100,000 logs** | $61.50 | $45.00 |
| **2,000,000 logs** | $631.50 🟢 | $995.00 🔴 |
| **15,000,000 logs** | $2,321.50 🟢 | $7,495.00 🔴 |

## Comparing Helicone and LangSmith
As a platform that focuses on optimizing your entire LLM lifecycle, Helicone isn't just a great [alternative to LangSmith](/content/blog/best-langsmith-alternatives/index.html). It also outperforms in scalability and reliability compared to tools like [Langfuse](/content/blog/best-langfuse-alternatives/index.html) and [Portkey](/content/blog/portkey-vs-helicone/index.html).

|  | **Helicone** | **LangSmith** |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **Best For** | Teams looking for a holistic, user-friendly observability solution | Teams integrated with LangChain ecosystem |
| **Pricing** | Starting at `$20/user/month`. Free trial and [multiple tiers](/content/pricing/index.html) available | Starting at `$39/user/month`. Limited free plan, [multiple tiers](https://www.langchain.com/pricing-langsmith) available |
| **Integration** | Proxy-based (popular with developers) or async SDK options | Async SDK option only |
| **Strengths** | Easy setup, real-time observability features like [Sessions](https://docs.helicone.ai/features/sessions), intuitive UI, supports any LLM provider | Deep workflow tracing **for lang-products**, comprehensive evaluation tools |
| **Drawbacks** | No built-in support for automatically scoring requests and experiments | Complex for simple tasks, layers of abstraction. Mixed opinions about production readiness, especially among experienced engineers. |

## LLM Observability and Monitoring

| **Feature** | **Helicone** | **LangSmith** |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **Open-Source** | ✅ | ❌ |
| **Self-Hosting**<br>_Ability to deploy on your own infrastructure_ | Highly flexible deployment options due to open-source nature | Only available to enterprise users |
| **Real-Time Observability**<br>_Reflect updates instantly_ | ✅ <br> See real-time updates on the dashboard as your agent is running | ❌ <br>No real-time dashboard updates due to caching mechanism |
| **Built-in Caching**<br>_Cache common responses to reduce costs_ | ✅ | ❌ |
| **Prompt Management**<br>_Tools to version, test, and optimize prompts_ | ✅ | ✅ |
| **LLM Workflow Tracing**<br>_Track complex multi-step or agentic workflows_ | ✅ | ✅ |
| **Experimentation**<br>_Tools to test and compare different approaches_ | ✅ | ✅ |
| **User Tracking**<br>_Monitoring usage patterns by individual users_ | ✅ | 🟠 <br>Basic user tracking |
| **Security Features**<br>_Key vault, rate limiting, threat detection_ | ✅ | 🟠 <br>Basic security features |
| **Supported LLMs**<br>_Range of LLM providers compatible with the tool_ | ✅ <br>Wide provider support | 🟠 <br>Fewer models, optimized for LangChain ecosystem |
| **User Support**<br>_Discord support, chat, email, dedicated Slack for Enterprise_ | ✅ | ✅ |

## Security, Compliance, Privacy

| **Feature** | **Helicone** | **LangSmith** |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **Data Retention**<br>_Control how long data is stored_ | 1 month (Free)<br>3 months (Pro/Team)<br>Forever (Enterprise) | From 14 to 400 days <br> (longer retention costs more) |
| **API Key Management**<br>_Securely store and manage provider credentials_ | ✅ | ✅ |
| **Rate Limiting**<br>_Prevent excessive usage and manage costs_ | ✅ | ❌ |
| **Threat Detection**<br>_Identify prompt injection and other security risks_ | ✅ | ❌ |
| **Data Protection**<br>_Control sensitive data logging/selective logging_ | ✅ | ✅ |
| **HIPAA-Compliant**<br>_Support for healthcare data privacy requirements_ | ✅ | ✅ |
| **GDPR-Compliant**<br>_Compliance with EU data protection standards_ | ✅ | ✅ |
| **SOC 2 Certified**<br>_Audited security and data handling practices_ | ✅ | ✅ |

### Self-Hosting and Deployment Options

| Option | Helicone | LangSmith |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **Manual Installation**<br>_Direct installation on servers_ | ✅ | ❌ |
| **Kubernetes**<br>_Container orchestration deployment. Helm charts available_ | ✅ | ✅ |
| **Docker Compose**<br>_Multi-container deployment_ | ✅ | ✅ |
| **External Databases**<br>_Connection to existing database systems_ | ✅ | ✅ |
| **Licensing**<br>_Licensing model for self-hosting_ | ✅ <br>No license required | ✅ <br>Enterprise license required |

## UI Comparison: Helicone vs LangSmith

We believe that observability should be simple and intuitive at Helicone, that's why we designed our platform to be easy to use and understand. It's reflected in both our UI and workflow that are designed to make you more productive as a developer.

### Integration Example
Helicone's proxy integration requires minimal code changes. Here's an example of integration with [OpenAI](https://docs.helicone.ai/integrations/openai/javascript):

```javascript
import OpenAI from "openai";

const openai = new OpenAI({
  apiKey: OPENAI_API_KEY,
  baseURL: "https://oai.helicone.ai/v1",
  defaultHeaders: { "Helicone-Auth": `Bearer ${HELICONE_API_KEY}` }
});
```

### Which platform should you choose?
We hear our customers say that their experience of monitoring LLM application in Helicone is intuitive and integrates well into any LLM observability tech stack. LangSmith is a great tool, and there are some things we would recommend them over Helicone for, such as if you're an enterprise that is in the LangChain ecosystem.

### Frequently Asked Questions
#### How hard is it to add Helicone or LangSmith to my existing app?
Helicone can be added by changing a single line of code (for the proxy approach) or using their SDK for background async logging. LangSmith requires adding decorators to your functions and using their SDK throughout your code.

#### Will these tools help me save money on my LLM costs?
Helicone has built-in caching that can significantly reduce costs by reusing responses for similar requests. LangSmith doesn't have any features particularly geared towards cost saving besides basic cost tracking.

#### Can I host these tools on my own servers?
Yes, both offer self-hosting. Helicone gives you more options (manual setup, Kubernetes, Docker, cloud deployment) and can be hosted for free, while LangSmith focuses on Kubernetes and Docker and requires an Enterprise subscription.