head to head · open source
serviette vs Helicone
serviette has 58,732 GitHub stars, 1,547 forks, 8 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Helicone has 6,254 stars, 701 forks, 156 open issues and last shipped 6 days ago. serviette leads on adoption by 839% (58,732 vs 6,254 stars). serviette is written in Python under MIT; Helicone is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0. serviette has attracted 3% as many forks as stars, Helicone 11%. serviette was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (llm), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
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
| serviette | Helicone | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 59K | ★ 6.3K |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Python | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-10-28 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.5K | ⑂ 701 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick serviette if
- You weight community size — 59K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- 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 serviette
serviette Looking for llm app templates? All templates, cookbooks and examples are still available in full in the Pathway repository under examples/llm app . A no code, always up to date RAG server for any vector database — built on the Pathway Live Data Framework. Point serviette at a folder of documents, pick a vector database and an embedder in one YAML file, and run two commands: you get a chat and a REST API that answer from those documents and cite their sources. From then on, any change to the documents — an edit, a new file, a deletion — is reflected in the answers within seconds. serviette runs on…
read the full serviette 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 serviette or Helicone more popular?
serviette has 58,732 GitHub stars and Helicone has 6,254. serviette has the larger community by that measure.
Are serviette and Helicone free?
Both are open source. serviette is licensed under MIT and Helicone under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between serviette and Helicone?
serviette is written in Python 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, serviette or Helicone?
Choose serviette if you want the larger community (58,732 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose Helicone if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.