kitio.aiHugging Face vs Helicone
A side-by-side look at pricing plans, free tiers, features, pros and cons, updated for 2026. Hugging Face has the lower starting price: about $9 a month, against $79 for Helicone.
At a glance
Best for
Category
Pricing model
Starting price
Free plan
Made by
Based in
Rating
Key features
- Model and dataset hub
- Spaces demo apps
- Inference Providers
- Inference Endpoints
- Transformers library
- Request logging and tracing
- Sessions and user analytics
- HQL query language
- Alerts and rate limits
- Prompt management
- Response caching
| Feature | Hugging Face | Helicone |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | The main hub for open models, datasets and AI demo apps | Open-source AI gateway and LLM observability platform |
| Category | Models & APIs | Models & APIs |
| Pricing model | Freemium | Freemium |
| Starting price | $9/mo | $79/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Made by | Hugging Face | Helicone, Inc. |
| Based in | United States | United States |
| Rating | No ratings yet | No ratings yet |
| Key features |
|
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Pricing compared
Hugging Face has the lower starting price: about $9 a month, against $79 for Helicone.
Free plan
Cheapest paid plan
Top plan
Free trial
4 plans
Free
Free
- Host unlimited public models and datasets
- Free CPU Spaces
PRO
$9/mo
- 10x private storage
- $2 inference credits monthly
- 8x ZeroGPU quota
- Spaces Dev Mode
Team
$20/mo
- Per user
- SSO (SAML and OIDC)
- Audit logs and resource groups
- Storage regions
Enterprise
$50/mo
- Per user
- Highest storage and rate limits
- SCIM provisioning
- Managed billing
4 plans
Hobby
Free
- 10,000 requests per month
- 1 seat
- 1 organization
Pro
$79/mo
- Unlimited seats
- Alerts and reports
- HQL query language
- Usage-based pricing applies
Team
$799/mo
- 5 organizations
- SOC 2 and HIPAA compliance
- Dedicated Slack channel
Enterprise
Contact sales
- Custom MSA
- SAML SSO
- On-prem deployment
Prices in USD, checked Oct 28, 2026 or later. Plans change often, so confirm on each tool's site before you buy.
Pros and cons
Hugging Face
- Largest open model catalog
- Free hosting for demos
- Huge community
- Model quality varies widely
- Inference credits are small on free
- Can overwhelm newcomers
Helicone
- Works with many LLM providers
- Generous free request allowance
- Open-source codebase
- Usage fees on top of paid plans
- Big jump from Pro to Team at $799
- SSO and on-prem limited to Enterprise
Which one should you choose?
Choose Hugging Face if you want:
- Largest open model catalog
- Free hosting for demos
- Huge community
Watch out: model quality varies widely.
Choose Helicone if you want:
- Works with many LLM providers
- Generous free request allowance
- Open-source codebase
Watch out: usage fees on top of paid plans.
Hugging Face vs Helicone FAQ
What is the difference between Hugging Face and Helicone?
Hugging Face: The main hub for open models, datasets and AI demo apps. Helicone: Open-source AI gateway and LLM observability platform. Both are models & apis tools.
Is Hugging Face or Helicone cheaper?
Hugging Face has the lower starting price: about $9 a month, against $79 for Helicone.
Do Hugging Face and Helicone have free plans?
Hugging Face: Yes. Helicone: Yes.
Who makes Hugging Face?
Hugging Face is made by Hugging Face, based in United States.
Who makes Helicone?
Helicone is made by Helicone, Inc., based in United States.
Which should I choose, Hugging Face or Helicone?
Choose Hugging Face if you value largest open model catalog and free hosting for demos. Choose Helicone if you value works with many llm providers and generous free request allowance.