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Langfuse vs Helicone
Trust Score comparison · March 2026
Signal Comparison
160k / wknpm downloads18k / wk
310 commitsCommits (90d)180 commits
10k ★GitHub stars3k ★
60 q'sStack Overflow20 q's
GrowingCommunityMedium
LangfuseHelicone
Key Differences
| Factor | Langfuse | Helicone |
|---|---|---|
| License | MIT | Apache 2.0 |
| Language | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Hosted | Self-hosted | Self-hosted |
| Free tier | — | — |
| Open Source | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| TypeScript | ✓ | ✓ |
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
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
Side-by-side Quick Start
Langfuse
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();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 automaticallyCommunity 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.