Staxly

Helicone vs Medusa

Open-source LLM observability — 1-line integration via proxy
vs. Open-source commerce engine — build custom storefronts with Next.js + Node

Helicone websiteMedusa website

Pricing tiers

Helicone

Hobby (Free)
10,000 requests/month. 7-day retention. 1 seat. Basic monitoring.
Free
Startup Discount
<2 years, <$5M funding: 50% off first year.
$0 base (usage-based)
Self-Hosted (OSS)
MIT-licensed. Run Helicone yourself for free.
$0 base (usage-based)
Pro
$79/month. 10k free + usage-based. Unlimited seats. Alerts, reports, HQL query language. 1-month retention.
$79/mo
Team
$799/month. 5 orgs, SOC-2 + HIPAA compliance, dedicated Slack, 3-month retention.
$799/mo
Enterprise
Custom MSA, SAML SSO, on-prem deploy, bulk discounts, forever retention.
Custom
Helicone website

Medusa

OSS (self-host)
$0. MIT license. Run Medusa backend + admin on your infra.
$0 base (usage-based)
Medusa Cloud Free
$0. Hobby projects. Shared infra. Community support.
Free
Medusa Cloud Pro
$99/mo. Production support. Dedicated DB. Priority.
$99/mo
Enterprise
Custom. SSO, SLA, dedicated cluster, PCI.
Custom
Medusa website

Free-tier quotas head-to-head

Comparing hobby on Helicone vs oss on Medusa.

MetricHeliconeMedusa
No overlapping quota metrics for these tiers.

Features

Helicone · 16 features

  • AlertsThresholds on error rate, latency, cost, usage. Pro+.
  • Async LoggingLog AFTER the LLM call via SDK — zero added latency.
  • Cost TrackingAutomatic cost calculation per call by provider/model.
  • DashboardRequest tables, aggregate metrics, cost breakdowns.
  • EvaluatorsLLM-as-judge + custom evaluators on runs.
  • ExperimentsA/B test different models/prompts.
  • HQL (SQL over traces)Query your logged data with SQL. Pro+.
  • PII RedactionAutomatically scrub emails, credit cards, etc. from logs.
  • Prompt CachingCache identical requests → save money.
  • Prompts & VersionsStore + version + A/B test prompts.
  • Proxy Mode1-line integration via base URL swap. Captures all requests.
  • Rate LimitingPer-user + per-key rate limit policies.
  • ReportsScheduled email reports with KPIs.
  • Self-HostingDocker + k8s deployment.
  • SessionsGroup related calls (chat sessions, agent runs).
  • User MetricsPer-user cost + usage segmentation.

Medusa · 16 features

  • Admin DashboardReact-based admin UI.
  • AuthCustomer + admin auth with JWT.
  • CartMulti-region carts with tax/pricing logic.
  • CheckoutMulti-step checkout flow.
  • Customers + GroupsCustomer records + B2B groups.
  • Dynamic PricingPrice lists, rules, customer-specific.
  • Event BusAsync events via Redis / RabbitMQ.
  • File ServicePluggable storage (S3, local).
  • Gift CardsNative gift-card support.
  • Inventory + Multi-warehouseStock tracking across locations.
  • Next.js StarterProduction-ready Next.js storefront.
  • Orders + FulfillmentFull order lifecycle (edits, returns, exchanges).
  • Products + VariantsProducts with options, variants, images.
  • Promotions + DiscountsRule-based promos, campaigns.
  • Tax ProvidersPluggable tax calculation.
  • Workflows EngineDurable saga-style business logic.

Developer interfaces

KindHeliconeMedusa
CLIHelicone CLImedusa CLI
SDKhelicone (npm), helicone-python@medusajs/js-sdk
RESTAsync Logging API, Helicone Proxy, Query API (HQL)Medusa Admin API, Medusa Store API
MCPMedusa MCP
OTHERHelicone Dashboard, WebhooksMedusa Admin UI, Next.js Starter
Staxly is an independent catalog of developer platforms. Outbound links to Helicone and Medusa are plain references to their official websites. Pricing is verified against vendor pages at publication time — reconfirm before buying.

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