Compare · Helicone

A Helicone alternative that turns cost data into tested pull requests

Helicone is LLM observability with an AI gateway: request logs, cost tracking, caching, routing and fallbacks. ModelGate prices every request too, then goes a step further for repeated tasks: it tests a cheaper model, generated code or a small open model against your own recorded answers, and delivers what passes as a GitHub pull request you merge.

Where ModelGate is different

  • It works from your repository as well as your traffic: findings point at the file and line, and fixes open as pull requests you merge.
  • For rule-like tasks it proposes plain code, tested against your model’s own recorded answers; when code can’t match them, a small open model may.
  • Pricing is a base fee plus a share of realized savings — see pricing for the full terms.

We found none of the first two in Helicone’s reviewed documentation. That is not proof they don’t exist.

Where Helicone is stronger

  • An AI gateway with routing and automatic fallbacks across many providers — ModelGate supports four.
  • Cloud or self-hosted with Docker Compose or Helm, and on-premises on Enterprise — ModelGate is hosted only.
  • An HQL query language for request data on paid plans, and cost-based rate limits per user or segment.
  • A free Hobby tier (10k requests).

Stay with Helicone if observability and querying your request data is the goal, or you need to self-host.

CriterionModelGateHelicone
Request and cost observabilityAvailableEvery request logged, failed ones included, and priced against a versioned rate table. Four providers: OpenAI, Anthropic, Google Gemini, Azure OpenAI.DetailsAvailableRequest observability and cost tracking, with an HQL query language on paid plans.Source
Budgets and access controlsAvailablePer-project monthly spend cap (402), requests-per-minute per key (429), token ceilings (413); scoped API keys; agency roles and per-client caps. No SSO.DetailsAvailableCustom rate limits, including cost-based quotas per user or segment (429 when exceeded).Source
Security guardrailsLimitedBuilt-in heuristic detectors: prompt-injection scoring, 17 secret signatures plus an entropy pass, 6 personal-data types. Detect on every plan; enforce on paid plans. No content-moderation categories.DetailsLimitedLLM Security (Meta Prompt Guard / Llama Guard) via request headers; the docs say it currently works with OpenAI models only.Source
Caching and model routingLimitedExact cache only (temperature 0, no tools, 24 h). Routing moves small, simple calls to a fixed same-provider cheaper model; retry plus one secondary provider. No semantic cache or load balancing.DetailsAvailableExact-match cache (7-day default TTL); AI Gateway with routing and automatic fallbacks.Source · Source
Repository analysisLimitedGitHub only. Reads the repositories you choose in memory and maps LLM calls to file and line (JavaScript/TypeScript and Python). Source is not stored.DetailsNot confirmed in reviewed documentationNo mention found in the pages reviewed.
Integration and optimization pull requestsLimitedA setup PR that points OpenAI SDK clients at the gateway; one-line PRs for a model switch or a lower output limit; a PR that adds a verified code replacement. Always on a new branch.DetailsNot confirmed in reviewed documentationNo mention found in the pages reviewed.
Deterministic code replacementLimitedOnly for rule-like tasks (a few fixed labels, extraction, JSON reshaping, arithmetic, simple image checks) with 50+ recorded calls and prompt and response storage on.DetailsNot confirmed in reviewed documentationNo mention found in the pages reviewed.
Validation and customer approval of changesAvailableCode replacements must match 95% of 30+ held-out recorded answers. Model-switch PRs point to an optional replay eval. Every PR is merged by you; gateway optimizations are off until you switch them on.Details · DetailsNot confirmed in reviewed documentationNot applicable as reviewed: no code-change workflow found to validate.
Deployment optionsLimitedHosted service only. ModelGate OSS is a separate local-first gateway (v0.1) with a smaller feature set.DetailsAvailableCloud, or self-hosted with Docker Compose or Helm; on-premises on Enterprise.Source · Source
Pricing structureAvailable$99/month (1 project, +$29 per extra) or $199/month for agencies (5 clients, +$29 per extra), plus 30% of realized savings and 30% of savings from changes made from suggestions for 3 months. 14-day trial.DetailsAvailableFree Hobby tier (10k requests); Pro $79/month and Team $799/month plus usage-based pricing; Enterprise custom.Source

Request and cost observability

ModelGateAvailableEvery request logged, failed ones included, and priced against a versioned rate table. Four providers: OpenAI, Anthropic, Google Gemini, Azure OpenAI.Details
HeliconeAvailableRequest observability and cost tracking, with an HQL query language on paid plans.Source

Budgets and access controls

ModelGateAvailablePer-project monthly spend cap (402), requests-per-minute per key (429), token ceilings (413); scoped API keys; agency roles and per-client caps. No SSO.Details
HeliconeAvailableCustom rate limits, including cost-based quotas per user or segment (429 when exceeded).Source

Security guardrails

ModelGateLimitedBuilt-in heuristic detectors: prompt-injection scoring, 17 secret signatures plus an entropy pass, 6 personal-data types. Detect on every plan; enforce on paid plans. No content-moderation categories.Details
HeliconeLimitedLLM Security (Meta Prompt Guard / Llama Guard) via request headers; the docs say it currently works with OpenAI models only.Source

Caching and model routing

ModelGateLimitedExact cache only (temperature 0, no tools, 24 h). Routing moves small, simple calls to a fixed same-provider cheaper model; retry plus one secondary provider. No semantic cache or load balancing.Details
HeliconeAvailableExact-match cache (7-day default TTL); AI Gateway with routing and automatic fallbacks.Source · Source

Repository analysis

ModelGateLimitedGitHub only. Reads the repositories you choose in memory and maps LLM calls to file and line (JavaScript/TypeScript and Python). Source is not stored.Details
HeliconeNot confirmed in reviewed documentationNo mention found in the pages reviewed.

Integration and optimization pull requests

ModelGateLimitedA setup PR that points OpenAI SDK clients at the gateway; one-line PRs for a model switch or a lower output limit; a PR that adds a verified code replacement. Always on a new branch.Details
HeliconeNot confirmed in reviewed documentationNo mention found in the pages reviewed.

Deterministic code replacement

ModelGateLimitedOnly for rule-like tasks (a few fixed labels, extraction, JSON reshaping, arithmetic, simple image checks) with 50+ recorded calls and prompt and response storage on.Details
HeliconeNot confirmed in reviewed documentationNo mention found in the pages reviewed.

Validation and customer approval of changes

ModelGateAvailableCode replacements must match 95% of 30+ held-out recorded answers. Model-switch PRs point to an optional replay eval. Every PR is merged by you; gateway optimizations are off until you switch them on.Details · Details
HeliconeNot confirmed in reviewed documentationNot applicable as reviewed: no code-change workflow found to validate.

Deployment options

ModelGateLimitedHosted service only. ModelGate OSS is a separate local-first gateway (v0.1) with a smaller feature set.Details
HeliconeAvailableCloud, or self-hosted with Docker Compose or Helm; on-premises on Enterprise.Source · Source

Pricing structure

ModelGateAvailable$99/month (1 project, +$29 per extra) or $199/month for agencies (5 clients, +$29 per extra), plus 30% of realized savings and 30% of savings from changes made from suggestions for 3 months. 14-day trial.Details
HeliconeAvailableFree Hobby tier (10k requests); Pro $79/month and Team $799/month plus usage-based pricing; Enterprise custom.Source

“Not confirmed in reviewed documentation” means we found no mention — not that the feature is missing. ModelGate OSS, a separate local-first gateway with a smaller feature set, is not counted here.

Trying ModelGate from Helicone

ModelGate speaks the OpenAI Chat Completions API, streaming included. Remove Helicone-specific headers; ModelGate needs only its base URL and your ModelGate key. You see the cost per task first; nothing in your code changes until you merge a pull request.

from openai import OpenAI

client = OpenAI(
    base_url="https://gw.modelgatehq.com/v1",
    api_key="YOUR_MODELGATE_KEY",
)

Full setup, providers and limits are in the documentation. To see what a repeated task looks like as code, read replacing LLM calls with code.

Sources

Helicone’s own product pages and documentation, reviewed 7 October 2026. Vendors change quickly — check the source before deciding.

Spotted something out of date? Tell us at support@modelgatehq.com and we’ll correct it.

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