Helicone Alternative · No Proxy · Self-hosted

# AgentLens vs Helicone
More than a logging proxy.

Helicone routes every LLM call through their proxy to log cost and latency. That's useful — but it doesn't tell you if your output is actually good. AgentLens adds quality scoring, hallucination detection, and agent debugging, without a proxy in your critical path.

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Quick Comparison

## Feature-by-feature

Capability | AgentLens | Helicone
--- | --- | ---
Integration model | SDK patch (2 lines) | Proxy (change base URL)
Proxy in critical path | ✓ none | ✗ adds hop + failure point
Self-hosted (default) | ✓ | Cloud-first, self-host option
Auto quality scoring | ✓ | ✗
Hallucination detection | ✓ | ✗
Regression alerts | ✓ | Manual setup
Cost tracking + budget alerts | ✓ | ✓
Agent waterfall debugger | ✓ | ✗
Prompt experiments / playground | Prompt debugger | ✓ mature
GDPR DPA / EU data residency | ✓ Team plan+ | Not documented
Entry price (managed) | €299 / mo flat | Free tier + usage-based

Based on public Helicone info as of April 2026. Verify at helicone.ai/pricing.

Architecture difference

## Proxy vs SDK

This is the biggest practical difference. Helicone sits between your app and OpenAI. AgentLens sits beside it.

# Helicone — change the base URL (every call routed through their proxy)
client = OpenAI(base_url="https://oai.helicone.ai/v1", ...)
# AgentLens — SDK patch, your OpenAI calls stay untouched
import llm_observe
llm_observe.init("https://agentlens.your-company.com")
llm_observe.patch_openai() # fire-and-forget, zero latency added to requests

Why this matters: if Helicone's proxy has an outage, your app's LLM calls fail. If AgentLens has an outage, your LLM calls succeed — you just lose telemetry for that window.

When to choose what

## Honest recommendation

### Choose Helicone if…

- You want cost/latency logging with minimal effort
- You're fine with a proxy in your critical path
- You want mature prompt experiments & playground
- You use the free tier + scale with usage pricing

### Choose AgentLens if…

- You need quality visibility, not just cost visibility
- You don't want a proxy in the hot path
- You have GDPR / EU data residency constraints
- You debug multi-step agents (waterfall timeline)
- You want flat managed pricing

FAQ

## Common questions

What's the main difference between Helicone and AgentLens?

Helicone is primarily a proxy that logs LLM calls and tracks cost/latency. AgentLens does the same plus automatic quality scoring, hallucination detection, regression alerts, and agent debugging — and runs self-hosted by default.

Can Helicone run self-hosted?

Helicone offers a self-hosted option but their primary model is cloud-based proxy. AgentLens is self-hosted by default — no proxy required, data stays in your infrastructure.

Do I need to change my API calls?

No. AgentLens uses SDK patching, not a proxy. Helicone requires changing your base URL. AgentLens adds two lines and leaves your OpenAI/Anthropic calls untouched.

Which has better evals?

AgentLens ships quality scoring and hallucination detection out of the box. Helicone focuses on logging, cost, and prompt experiments; evals are less developed.

What about latency impact?

AgentLens adds zero latency (fire-and-forget background shipping). A proxy like Helicone adds one network hop to every LLM call.

### Want real quality visibility?

15-minute call. We'll show you what automatic scoring looks like on your own traffic.

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