head to head · open source
llama.cpp vs Helicone
llama.cpp has 133,181 GitHub stars, 25,063 forks, 2,464 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Helicone has 6,254 stars, 701 forks, 156 open issues and last shipped 6 days ago. llama.cpp leads on adoption by 2,030% (133,181 vs 6,254 stars). llama.cpp is written in C++ under MIT; Helicone is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0. llama.cpp has attracted 19% as many forks as stars, Helicone 11%. llama.cpp 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
| llama.cpp | Helicone | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 133K | ★ 6.3K |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | C++ | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-10-28 |
| Forks | ⑂ 25K | ⑂ 701 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick llama.cpp if
- You weight community size — 133K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches C++
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Helicone if
- You want the Helicone 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 Helicone fits your workflow better
About llama.cpp
llama.cpp LLM inference in C/C++ ggml / ops / maintainer PRs%20sort%3Aupdated desc) / dev stats / lib llama API / llama server REST API Quick start A few options to get llama.cpp installed on your machine: Visit and follow the instructions Run with Docker see our Docker documentation Download pre built binaries from the releases page Build from source by cloning this repository check out our build guide Once installed: VLM session with llama cli Built in web UI against llama serve Description The main goal of llama.cpp is to enable LLM (and VLM) inference with minimal setup and state of the art performance on a…
read the full llama.cpp overview →
About Helicone
Docs • Changelog • Bug reports • See Helicone in Action! (Free) Helicone is an AI Gateway & LLM Observability Platform for AI Engineers 🌐 AI Gateway : Access 100+ AI models with 1 API key through the OpenAI API with intelligent routing and automatic fallbacks. Get started in 2 minutes. 🔌 Quick integration : One line of code to log all your requests from OpenAI, Anthropic, LangChain, Gemini, Vercel AI SDK, and more. 📊 Observe : Inspect and debug traces & sessions for agents, chatbots, document processing pipelines, and more 📈 Analyze : Track metrics like cost, latency, quality, and more. Export to PostHog in…
read the full Helicone overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is llama.cpp or Helicone more popular?
llama.cpp has 133,181 GitHub stars and Helicone has 6,254. llama.cpp has the larger community by that measure.
Are llama.cpp and Helicone free?
Both are open source. llama.cpp is licensed under MIT and Helicone under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between llama.cpp and Helicone?
llama.cpp is written in C++ and Helicone 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, llama.cpp or Helicone?
Choose llama.cpp if you want the larger community (133,181 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose Helicone if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.