head to head · open source
Helicone vs OpenLIT
Helicone has 6,165 GitHub stars, 672 forks, 156 open issues and last shipped 4 days ago. OpenLIT has 2,772 stars, 394 forks, 60 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Helicone leads on adoption by 122% (6,165 vs 2,772 stars). Helicone is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0; OpenLIT is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0. Helicone has attracted 11% as many forks as stars, OpenLIT 14%. OpenLIT was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| Helicone | OpenLIT | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 6.2K | ★ 2.8K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-16 | 2026-09-19 |
| Forks | ⑂ 672 | ⑂ 394 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Helicone if
- You weight community size — 6.2K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick OpenLIT if
- You want the OpenLIT feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and OpenLIT fits your workflow better
About Helicone
Helicone is an open source AI gateway and LLM observability platform for AI engineers who need to monitor, evaluate, and experiment with applications built on large language models.
read the full Helicone overview →
About OpenLIT
OpenLIT is an open source, OpenTelemetry native observability and evaluation platform for AI applications, AI agents and coding agents, built for engineers who run LLM backed systems and need to see what those systems actually did.
read the full OpenLIT overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Helicone or OpenLIT more popular?
Helicone has 6,165 GitHub stars and OpenLIT has 2,772. Helicone has the larger community by that measure.
Are Helicone and OpenLIT free?
Both are open source. Helicone is licensed under Apache-2.0 and OpenLIT under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Helicone and OpenLIT ?
Helicone is written in TypeScript and OpenLIT in TypeScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Helicone or OpenLIT ?
Choose Helicone if you want the larger community (6,165 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose OpenLIT if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.