Helicone Alternatives 2025: Top 10

Updated November 2025

If you’re researching Helicone alternatives, this guide lays out the landscape like a builder would. First we clarify what Helicone is (and isn’t), then we compare the 10 best alternatives—placing ShareAI first for teams that want one API across many providers, pre-route transparency (price, latency, uptime, availability, provider type), instant failover, and people-powered economics (70% of spend goes to providers who keep models online).

What Helicone is (and isn’t)

Helicone began as an open-source LLM observability platform—a proxy that logs and analyzes your LLM traffic (latency, cost, usage) to help you debug and optimize. Over time, the product added an AI Gateway with one API to 100+ models, while continuing to emphasize routing, debugging, and analytics.

From the official site and docs:

• Open-source LLM observability with one-line setup; logs/metrics for requests.
• AI Gateway with a unified surface to access 100+ models and automatically log requests.
• Positioning: route, debug, and analyze your AI apps.

Interpretation: Helicone blends observability (logging/metrics) with a gateway. It offers some aggregation, but its center of gravity is still telemetry-first (investigate, monitor, analyze). That’s different from a transparent multi-provider marketplace where you decide routes based on pre-route model/provider price, latency, uptime, and availability—and swap quickly when conditions change. (That’s where ShareAI shines.)

Aggregators vs Gateways vs Observability platforms

• LLM aggregators/marketplaces: one API across many providers with pre-route transparency (price, latency, uptime, availability, provider type) and smart routing/failover.
• AI gateways: governance and policy at the edge (centralized keys, rate limits, guardrails), observability, some routing; you bring providers.
• Observability platforms: capture requests/responses, latency, costs; APM-style troubleshooting.
• Hybrids (like Helicone): observability core + gateway features, increasingly blurring lines.

How we evaluated the best Helicone alternatives

• Model breadth & neutrality: proprietary + open; easy switching; minimal rewrites.
• Latency & resilience: routing policies, timeouts, retries, instant failover.
• Governance & security: key handling, scopes; regional routing/data locality.
• Observability: logs/traces and cost/latency dashboards.
• Pricing transparency & TCO: compare real costs before routing.
• Developer experience: docs, SDKs, quickstarts; time-to-first-token.
• Community & economics: whether your spend grows supply (incentives for GPU owners).

Top 10 Helicone alternatives

#1 — ShareAI (People-Powered AI API)

What it is. A multi-provider API with a transparent marketplace and smart routing. With one integration, browse a large catalog of models and providers, compare price, latency, uptime, availability, provider type, and route with instant failover. Economics are people-powered: 70% of every dollar flows to providers (community or company) who keep models online.

Why it’s #1 here. If you want provider-agnostic aggregation with pre-route transparency and resilience, ShareAI is the most direct fit. Keep a gateway if you need org-wide policies; add ShareAI for marketplace-guided routing.

• One API → 150+ models across many providers; no rewrites, no lock-in.
• Transparent marketplace: choose by price, latency, uptime, availability, provider type.
• Resilience by default: routing policies + instant failover.
• Fair economics: 70% of spend goes to providers (community or company).

Quick links — Browse Models · Open Playground · Create API Key · API Reference · Releases

For providers: earn by keeping models online
Anyone can become a ShareAI provider—Community or Company. Onboard via Windows, Ubuntu, macOS, or Docker. Contribute idle-time bursts or run always-on. Choose your incentive: Rewards (money), Exchange (tokens/AI Prosumer), or Mission (donate a % to NGOs). As you scale, you can set your own inference prices and gain preferential exposure. Provider links — Provider Guide · Provider Dashboard

#2 — OpenRouter

Unified API across a wide catalog—great for fast experimentation and coverage. It’s strong on breadth and quick trials; pair with a marketplace for pre-route transparency and failover.

#3 — Eden AI

Aggregates LLMs plus broader AI (vision, translation, speech). Handy for teams that need multi-modality beyond text; add marketplace-guided routing to balance cost and latency.

#4 — Portkey

AI gateway emphasizing observability, guardrails, and governance—popular in regulated settings. Keep for policy depth; add ShareAI for provider choice and failover.

#5 — LiteLLM

Lightweight Python SDK and self-host proxy that speaks an OpenAI-compatible interface to many providers. Great for DIY; swap to ShareAI when you don’t want to operate a proxy in production.

#6 — Unify

Quality-oriented routing and evaluation to pick better models per prompt. Complement with ShareAI when you also need live marketplace stats and instant failover.

#7 — Orq AI

Orchestration and collaboration to move from experiment to production with low-code flows. Run side-by-side with ShareAI’s routing and marketplace layer.

#8 — Kong AI Gateway

Enterprise gateway: policies, plugins, analytics, and observability for AI traffic at the edge. It’s a control plane rather than a marketplace.

#9 — Traefik AI Gateway

Thin AI layer atop Traefik’s API gateway—specialized middlewares, centralized credentials, and OpenTelemetry-friendly observability. Pair with ShareAI for transparent multi-provider routing.

#10 — Apigee / NGINX (DIY)

General API management (Apigee) and programmable proxy (NGINX). You can roll your own AI gateway controls; add ShareAI for marketplace transparency and failover without custom plumbing.

Helicone vs ShareAI (at a glance)

• If you need one API over many providers with transparent pricing/latency/uptime and instant failover, choose ShareAI.
• If your top requirement is telemetry and debugging, Helicone’s observability-first approach is valuable; with the newer AI Gateway, it offers unified access but not a provider marketplace with pre-route transparency.

Quick comparison

Platform	Who it serves	Model breadth	Governance & security	Observability	Routing / failover	Marketplace transparency	Provider program
ShareAI	Product & platform teams needing one API + fair economics	150+ models, many providers	API keys & per-route controls	Console usage + marketplace stats	Smart routing + instant failover	Yes (price, latency, uptime, availability, provider type)	Yes — open supply; 70% to providers
Helicone	Teams wanting telemetry + AI Gateway access	100+ models via Gateway	Centralized keys via gateway	Yes — logs/metrics	Conditional routing	Partial (gateway view; not a pricing marketplace)	n/a
OpenRouter	Devs needing fast multi-model access	Wide catalog	Basic API controls	App-side	Fallbacks	Partial	n/a
Eden AI	LLM + other AI services	Broad	Standard controls	Varies	Fallbacks/caching	Partial	n/a
Portkey	Regulated/enterprise	Broad	Guardrails & governance	Deep traces	Conditional	Partial	n/a
LiteLLM	DIY/self-host proxy	Many providers	Config/key limits	Your infra	Retries/fallback	n/a	n/a
Unify	Quality-driven teams	Multi-model	Standard security	Platform analytics	Best-model selection	n/a	n/a
Orq	Orchestration-first	Wide support	Platform controls	Platform analytics	Orchestration flows	n/a	n/a
Kong AI Gateway	Enterprises/gateway	BYO providers	Strong edge policies	Analytics	Proxy/plugins, retries	No (infra)	n/a
Traefik AI Gateway	Egress governance	BYO providers	Centralized policies	OpenTelemetry	Middlewares	No (infra)	n/a

Pricing & TCO: compare real costs (not just unit prices)

Raw $/1K tokens hides the real picture. TCO shifts with retries/fallbacks, latency (which affects user behavior), provider variance, observability storage, and evaluation runs. A transparent marketplace helps you choose routes that balance cost and UX.

A simple framing:

TCO ≈ Σ (Base_tokens × Unit_price × (1 + Retry_rate))
      + Observability_storage
      + Evaluation_tokens
      + Egress

• Prototype (~10k tokens/day): Optimize for time-to-first-token (Playground, quickstarts).
• Mid-scale (~2M tokens/day): Marketplace-guided routing/failover can trim 10–20% while improving UX.
• Spiky workloads: Budget for higher effective token costs from retries during failover.

Migration guide: moving to ShareAI (from Helicone or others)

From Helicone

Use Helicone where it shines—telemetry—and add ShareAI for marketplace routing and instant failover. Common pattern: App → (optional gateway policy) → ShareAI route per model → measure marketplace stats → tighten policies over time. When you switch routes, verify prompt parity and expected latency/cost in the Playground before full rollout.

From OpenRouter

Map model names, confirm prompt compatibility, then shadow 10% of traffic and ramp 25% → 50% → 100% if latency/error budgets hold. Marketplace data makes provider swaps straightforward.

From LiteLLM

Replace the self-hosted proxy on production routes you don’t want to operate; keep LiteLLM for development if you prefer. Compare operational overhead versus managed routing benefits.

From Unify / Portkey / Orq / Kong / Traefik

Define feature-parity expectations (analytics, guardrails, orchestration, plugins). Many teams run hybrid: keep specialized features where they’re strongest; use ShareAI for transparent provider choice and failover.

Developer quickstart (copy-paste)

The following use an OpenAI-compatible surface. Replace YOUR_KEY with your ShareAI key — create one at Create API Key. See the API Reference for details.

#!/usr/bin/env bash
# cURL — Chat Completions
# Prereqs:
#   export SHAREAI_API_KEY="YOUR_KEY"

curl -X POST "https://api.shareai.now/v1/chat/completions" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $SHAREAI_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "model": "llama-3.1-70b",
    "messages": [
      { "role": "user", "content": "Give me a short haiku about reliable routing." }
    ],
    "temperature": 0.4,
    "max_tokens": 128
  }'

// JavaScript (fetch) — Node 18+/Edge
// Prereqs:
//   process.env.SHAREAI_API_KEY = "YOUR_KEY"

async function main() {
  const res = await fetch("https://api.shareai.now/v1/chat/completions", {
    method: "POST",
    headers: {
      "Authorization": `Bearer ${process.env.SHAREAI_API_KEY}`,
      "Content-Type": "application/json"
    },
    body: JSON.stringify({
      model: "llama-3.1-70b",
      messages: [
        { role: "user", content: "Give me a short haiku about reliable routing." }
      ],
      temperature: 0.4,
      max_tokens: 128
    })
  });

  if (!res.ok) {
    console.error("Request failed:", res.status, await res.text());
    return;
  }

  const data = await res.json();
  console.log(JSON.stringify(data, null, 2));
}

main().catch(console.error);

Security, privacy & compliance checklist (vendor-agnostic)

• Key handling: rotation cadence; minimal scopes; environment separation.
• Data retention: where prompts/responses are stored, how long; redaction defaults.
• PII & sensitive content: masking; access controls; regional routing for data locality.
• Observability: prompt/response logging; ability to filter or pseudonymize; propagate trace IDs consistently (OTel).
• Incident response: escalation paths and provider SLAs.

FAQ — Helicone vs other competitors (and where ShareAI fits)

Helicone vs ShareAI — which for multi-provider routing?

ShareAI. It’s built for marketplace transparency (price, latency, uptime, availability, provider type) and smart routing/failover across many providers. Helicone centers on observability and now adds an AI Gateway; it’s useful telemetry, but not a marketplace with pre-route transparency. Many teams use both: Helicone for logs; ShareAI for routing choice.

Helicone vs OpenRouter — quick multi-model access or marketplace transparency?

OpenRouter makes multi-model access quick; Helicone adds deep logging/analysis. If you also want pre-route transparency and instant failover, ShareAI combines multi-provider access with a marketplace view and resilient routing.

Helicone vs Portkey — who’s stronger on guardrails?

Portkey focuses on governance/guardrails; Helicone on telemetry + gateway. If your main need is transparent provider choice and failover, add ShareAI.

Helicone vs LiteLLM — self-host proxy or managed layers?

LiteLLM is a DIY proxy/SDK; Helicone is observability + gateway. If you’d rather not run a proxy and you want marketplace-driven routing, pick ShareAI.

Helicone vs Unify — best-model selection vs logging?

Unify emphasizes evaluation-driven model selection; Helicone emphasizes logging. ShareAI adds live marketplace stats and routing when you want cost/latency control before you send traffic.

Helicone vs Eden AI — many AI services or observability + gateway?

Eden AI aggregates lots of modalities; Helicone blends observability + model access. For transparent pricing/latency across providers and instant failover, use ShareAI.

Helicone vs Orq — orchestration vs telemetry?

Orq helps orchestrate workflows; Helicone helps log and analyze them. Layer ShareAI for provider-agnostic routing tied to marketplace stats.

Helicone vs Kong AI Gateway — gateway depth vs telemetry?

Kong is a robust gateway (policies/plugins/analytics); Helicone is observability + gateway. Many teams pair a gateway with ShareAI for transparent routing.

Helicone vs Traefik AI Gateway — OTel governance or marketplace routing?

Traefik AI Gateway centralizes egress policies with OTel-friendly observability; Helicone offers telemetry plus a gateway surface. For one API over many providers with pre-route transparency, use ShareAI.

Helicone vs Apigee / NGINX — turnkey vs DIY?

Apigee/NGINX offer general API controls; Helicone is AI-specific telemetry + gateway. If you want transparent provider selection and failover without DIY, ShareAI is designed for that.

Sources & further reading (Helicone)

• Helicone homepage — AI Gateway & LLM Observability; “route, debug, analyze;” one API to 100+ models.
• Helicone docs — AI Gateway with model access and automatic logging.
• Helicone GitHub — Open-source LLM observability project.

Quick links — Browse Models · Open Playground · Read the Docs · See Releases · Sign in / Sign up