Comparison · 2026-05-02
PromptCost vs Helicone
Both are proxy-based LLM tools. Both let you swap a URL and start tracking. So when does each one win? Here's the honest comparison — including where Helicone is the better pick.
TL;DR. Helicone is a mature LLM observability platform with deep tracing, evals, prompt management and a strong free tier. PromptCost is narrower and louder about one thing: per-agent / per-workflow cost tracking with hard budget caps that block requests at the proxy. If you're an engineer building a complex AI app, Helicone is probably what you want. If you're running automations in Make.com or n8n and you've been burned by an unexpected bill, PromptCost is built exactly for you.
Side by side
| Feature | PromptCost | Helicone |
|---|---|---|
| Setup | Swap URL + 2 headers | Swap URL + 1 header |
| Per-agent / per-workflow tagging | ✓ Built-in via cg-agent header |
~ Via custom properties |
| Hard budget cap that blocks at 429 | ✓ Core feature, per-agent | ~ Available on paid tier, alerts-first |
| Make.com / n8n native pattern | ✓ Documented & tested | — Generic, but no specific guides |
| Prompt management / versioning | — Out of scope | ✓ Strong |
| Tracing / multi-step agent debugging | — Out of scope | ✓ Strong |
| Evals / experiments | — | ✓ |
| Self-hosting | — Hosted only | ✓ Open source |
| Free tier | Unlimited agents, 7-day history | 10K requests/mo |
| Paid entry plan | $9/mo (early access, 50 spots) | $20/mo Pro |
| Provider key storage | ✓ Never stored, header pass-through | ✓ Never stored |
| Latency overhead | ~5–15ms (Redis-backed) | ~5–10ms (Cloudflare Workers) |
Where Helicone wins
This isn't a one-sided fight. Helicone is a more mature, feature-rich platform and there are clear cases where it's the better choice:
- You're building a complex multi-step agent. Helicone's tracing and session view make debugging chains of LLM calls much easier.
- You need prompt management. Helicone has prompt versioning, A/B testing, and a registry. PromptCost doesn't.
- You need evals. Helicone integrates evaluation pipelines. PromptCost is purely cost-focused.
- You need self-hosting. Helicone is open source. PromptCost is hosted-only.
- You're already deep in their ecosystem. Migration cost is real.
Where PromptCost wins
- You're a Make.com / n8n / Zapier operator and you don't want to learn an SDK or even think about traces. You just want a dashboard that says "scenario X spent $42 this month" and a switch that says "stop at $50."
- Hard budget caps are non-negotiable. PromptCost's 429-on-the-proxy is the core product. Helicone's enforcement leans more on alerts and rate limiting.
- Per-agent breakdown out of the box. No custom properties to configure — every request gets tagged with whatever
cg-agentname you pass. - Indie pricing. $9/mo for the Indie plan during early access (locked forever for the first 50 users). Helicone's Pro starts at $20/mo.
- Smaller surface area. Three things: track per agent, cap with 429, log requests. That's it. If that's all you need, you don't need to pay for the rest.
How to pick
Pick Helicone if
- You're an engineering team building a custom AI product.
- You need tracing, evals, or prompt management — not just cost.
- You want to self-host.
Pick PromptCost if
- Your AI lives inside Make.com, n8n, Zapier, or plain HTTP calls.
- The thing that keeps you up at night is "what if a workflow runs amok overnight."
- You want hard caps that block, not alerts that notify.
- You'd rather pay $9/mo for the 10% of features you actually use than $20/mo for the full kitchen sink.
"Can I use both?"
Yes — they're not mutually exclusive. Some teams use Helicone for their main engineered AI app and PromptCost as the budget enforcer for their no-code automations. The proxies don't conflict; they just sit on different traffic.
Try PromptCost in 60 seconds.
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