OpenRouter vs Helicone

OpenRouter

Helicone

OpenRouter · 15 features

• 300+ Models — Claude, GPT, Gemini, Llama, Mistral, Qwen, DeepSeek, Cohere, Grok + open-source.
• 60+ Providers — Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, Together, Fireworks, Groq, DeepInfra, Replicate, etc.
• Auto Fallback — Automatic retry to backup provider on failure.
• Bring Your Own Key — Use your own provider keys → pay providers directly + no platform fee.
• Credit System — Prepay credits via card, crypto, or bank.
• Data Retention Controls — Opt-out of training/retention per provider.
• Free Models Tier — 25+ models available at $0 (limited rate).
• Prompt Caching — Automatic cache for identical prefixes (provider-dependent).
• Provider Preferences — Pin preferred providers per request or default.
• Rankings & Stats — Public leaderboard of most-used models.
• Regional Routing — Route requests to specific geographic regions.
• Streaming — SSE + partial completions.
• Structured Outputs — JSON-mode + JSON schema across supporting models.
• Tool Use / Function Calling — Unified tool calling across providers.
• Unified OpenAI-Compat API — Same endpoint for every model + provider.

Helicone · 16 features

• Alerts — Thresholds on error rate, latency, cost, usage. Pro+.
• Async Logging — Log AFTER the LLM call via SDK — zero added latency.
• Cost Tracking — Automatic cost calculation per call by provider/model.
• Dashboard — Request tables, aggregate metrics, cost breakdowns.
• Evaluators — LLM-as-judge + custom evaluators on runs.
• Experiments — A/B test different models/prompts.
• HQL (SQL over traces) — Query your logged data with SQL. Pro+.
• PII Redaction — Automatically scrub emails, credit cards, etc. from logs.
• Prompt Caching — Cache identical requests → save money.
• Prompts & Versions — Store + version + A/B test prompts.
• Proxy Mode — 1-line integration via base URL swap. Captures all requests.
• Rate Limiting — Per-user + per-key rate limit policies.
• Reports — Scheduled email reports with KPIs.
• Self-Hosting — Docker + k8s deployment.
• Sessions — Group related calls (chat sessions, agent runs).
• User Metrics — Per-user cost + usage segmentation.