LiteLLM vs Helicone
Both are alternatives to Portkey. Here's how they stack up — verified facts, no spin.
Also searched as Helicone vs LiteLLM — same comparison, one verdict.
LiteLLM and Helicone are closely matched on ownership (90 vs 88) — this one comes down to pricing and to which trade-offs below you can live with.
LiteLLM
TOP PICKOne OpenAI-compatible API in front of 100+ providers, running on your own box.
LiteLLM is the de facto open gateway for this layer: a proxy that exposes an OpenAI-compatible endpoint in front of 100+ providers, with virtual keys, per-team budgets, rate limits, fallbacks and logging. You run it, so prompts never leave your infrastructure and there is zero markup on token spend — you pay the model providers directly. At 55k GitHub stars with commits landing daily it is the most widely adopted option here. Licensing is worth reading precisely: the core is MIT, while everything under the repository's enterprise/ directory carries a separate commercial licence.
Helicone
Gateway and observability in one proxy — Apache-2.0, now in maintenance under Mintlify.
Helicone is an open-source AI gateway and observability platform with logging, caching and cost tracking built into the proxy rather than added alongside it — the practical difference from LiteLLM, where observability is thin and usually paired with something else. The platform (Helicone/helicone) is Apache-2.0 and self-hostable as a set of containers; a separate Rust gateway (Helicone/ai-gateway) is GPL-3.0. Helicone joined Mintlify in March 2026 and is now maintained rather than developed: fixes continue, new features do not. Fine for a stable setup today; weigh it against actively developed options before building on it for years.
Side by side
10 points of comparison, every one read from a verified field. Green marks the side that wins a row outright. A dash means we do not hold that fact — never that it is zero.
| LiteLLM | Helicone | |
|---|---|---|
| Sovereignty ScoreOur transparent 0–100 composite for data ownership and exit cost. | 90 | 88 |
| Open source | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hostable | Yes | Yes |
| Local-first data | Yes | Yes |
| License | MIT (core); enterprise/ directory under a separate commercial licence | Apache-2.0 |
| Pricing | Free and self-hosted — you pay the model providers directly with no markup, plus hosting for a small VM (roughly $20–50/month). A paid enterprise tier exists for SSO, audit logs and support. | Free and self-hostable under Apache-2.0. The hosted service has a free tier of roughly 10,000 requests per month, with paid plans starting around $79/month. |
| RAM to run it wellThe figure that actually matters, not the vendor's minimum. | 2 GB | 8 GB. The all-in-one container runs the web dashboard, the Jawn API and proxy, PostgreSQL, ClickHouse and MinIO together, and ClickHouse's own sizing guide says total memory should not go below 8 GB. |
| Realistic running costWhat the box costs each month if you run it yourself. | $12–24/mo, against LLM gateway products charging per request | $24–48/mo for a 4–8 GB VPS at DigitalOcean list prices (read 2026-09-30), less on budget hosts; your LLM provider bills are separate |
| Setup timeHonest first-install estimate, not the marketing quickstart. | 1 hour | 20 minutes on localhost with the all-in-one image; an afternoon on a server, where every URL variable must point at the public origin and HTTPS comes from a reverse proxy |
| Ongoing maintenanceThe part nobody budgets for. | Low, but it is now in the path of every model call you make. | Helicone has been in maintenance mode since Mintlify acquired it on 2026-03-03 — in Helicone's words, security updates, new models, and bug and performance fixes keep shipping. Budget for ClickHouse housekeeping and, eventually, a migration. |
LiteLLM is Macrostack's recommended Portkey alternative, so it's our pick here.
Weighing both against staying on Portkey? Is Portkey free? What it actually costs →
LiteLLM
Strengths
- +Zero markup — provider tokens are billed to you at cost
- +Prompts and completions never leave your infrastructure
- +Virtual keys, per-team budgets and rate limits built in
- +100+ providers behind one OpenAI-compatible endpoint; 55k stars, daily commits
Trade-offs
- −You run it: deployment, upgrades, monitoring and uptime are yours
- −Observability is basic out of the box — expect to pair it with a tracing tool
- −The MIT core stops at the enterprise/ directory; SSO and audit logging sit behind a commercial licence
- −A proxy you operate is another production dependency to keep healthy
Helicone
Strengths
- +The platform is Apache-2.0 and fully self-hostable
- +Routing and observability in one component — less to assemble
- +Proxy-based: nothing to instrument in your code to start
- +Hosted option if you would rather not run it
Trade-offs
- −Maintenance mode since the Mintlify acquisition (March 2026) — no new development
- −The separate Rust gateway is GPL-3.0, not Apache-2.0
- −Fewer providers supported than LiteLLM's 100+
- −The hosted tier means prompts transit a third party — the thing self-hosting avoided
Which one fits you
The trade-offs above, turned into a decision. Find the line that describes your team.
Choose LiteLLM
if a lower exit cost matters more to you than any single feature, and zero markup — provider tokens are billed to you at cost.
Choose Helicone
if the platform is Apache-2.0 and fully self-hostable.
Neither, yet
if both carry a real cost you should weigh first — you run it: deployment, upgrades, monitoring and uptime are yours, and maintenance mode since the Mintlify acquisition (March 2026) — no new development. If either of those is a dealbreaker for your team, the shortlist is wrong rather than the choice.
What it takes to run these yourself
Real requirements and honest running costs, not the vendor quickstart.
Self-hosting LiteLLM
2 GB RAM · 1 hour
$12–24/mo, against LLM gateway products charging per request
Self-hosting Helicone
8 GB. The all-in-one container runs the web dashboard, the Jawn API and proxy, PostgreSQL, ClickHouse and MinIO together, and ClickHouse's own sizing guide says total memory should not go below 8 GB. RAM · 20 minutes on localhost with the all-in-one image; an afternoon on a server, where every URL variable must point at the public origin and HTTPS comes from a reverse proxy
$24–48/mo for a 4–8 GB VPS at DigitalOcean list prices (read 2026-09-30), less on budget hosts; your LLM provider bills are separate
LiteLLM vs Helicone — common questions
Is LiteLLM a better fit than Helicone for llm gateways & routing?
It depends on what you are optimising for, and the honest split is this: LiteLLM scores 90 to Helicone's 88 on data ownership and exit cost, so it is the safer choice if you care about being able to leave. Helicone earns its place on a different axis — the platform is Apache-2.0 and fully self-hostable. Neither is a wrong answer for every team; the table above is the actual comparison.
What happens if we want to switch later?
LiteLLM keeps its data local or in open formats, so leaving is an export rather than a negotiation. Helicone is still self-hostable, so the files stay on your server either way — but it is not local-first by design, so check what its export produces before you rely on it.
Can I self-host LiteLLM or Helicone?
Both can be self-hosted. The difference is what it costs you in time rather than whether it is possible — see the setup and maintenance rows above.
Are LiteLLM and Helicone both alternatives to Portkey?
Yes — both appear in our Portkey comparison, which is why they are worth putting side by side. People usually arrive here already having decided to move off Portkey and now choosing between the two replacements, which is a narrower and much easier question.
Related alternative guides
Facts verified 2026-07-30. Licenses and pricing change — spotted something out of date? That's a correction we want.