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Helicone vs Langfuse
Trust Score comparison · March 2026
Signal Comparison
18k / wknpm downloads160k / wk
180 commitsCommits (90d)310 commits
3k ★GitHub stars10k ★
20 q'sStack Overflow60 q's
MediumCommunityGrowing
HeliconeLangfuse
Key Differences
| Factor | Helicone | Langfuse |
|---|---|---|
| License | Apache 2.0 | MIT |
| Language | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Hosted | Self-hosted | Self-hosted |
| Free tier | — | — |
| Open Source | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| TypeScript | ✓ | ✓ |
Pick Helicone if…
- You want minimal-friction observability — just change your base URL
- Caching identical LLM requests to cut costs
- Quick cost and latency dashboards without SDK changes
Pick Langfuse if…
- You need full visibility into LLM call traces, costs, and latency
- Running evals and A/B testing different prompts or models
- Self-hosting observability data for compliance or privacy
Side-by-side Quick Start
Helicone
import OpenAI from 'openai';
const client = new OpenAI({
apiKey: process.env.OPENAI_API_KEY,
baseURL: 'https://oai.helicone.ai/v1',
defaultHeaders: { 'Helicone-Auth': `Bearer ${process.env.HELICONE_API_KEY}` },
});
// All calls are now logged automaticallyLangfuse
import Langfuse from 'langfuse';
const langfuse = new Langfuse({ secretKey: process.env.LANGFUSE_SECRET_KEY });
const trace = langfuse.trace({ name: 'chat-completion' });
const span = trace.span({ name: 'openai-call' });
// ... make your LLM call ...
span.end({ output: responseText });
await langfuse.flushAsync();Community Verdict
Based on upvoted notes🏆
Langfuse wins this comparison
Trust Score 85 vs 73 · 12-point difference
Langfuse leads on Trust Score with stronger signal data across downloads and community health. That said, the other tool is worth considering if your use case matches its specific strengths above.