specification: FinOps Framework
specificationVersion: '1.0'
alignedWith:
  framework: FinOps Foundation Framework
  frameworkUrl: https://www.finops.org/framework/
  dataSpec: FOCUS
  dataSpecVersion: '1.3'
  dataSpecUrl: https://focus.finops.org/focus-specification/v1-3/
provider: Helicone
providerId: helicone
publisherName: Helicone, Inc.
serviceCategory: AI Observability
created: '2026-05-04'
# Provenance stamped 2026-08-11: this artifact was written by the API Evangelist
# bulk sweep dated 2026-05-04, not harvested from the provider. See roadmap#35.
method: generated
modified: '2026-05-05'
reconciled: true
tags:
  - AI Gateways
  - AI Monitoring
  - Gateways
  - LLM Observability
  - LLM Routing
  - Prompt Management
  - FinOps
  - Cost Management
  - FOCUS
description: 'FOCUS-aligned FinOps definition for Helicone: a tiered subscription with per-tier included
  request and storage allotments, plus usage-based overage for logged requests and storage. Enterprise tier
  is custom-priced.'
sources:
  - https://helicone.ai/pricing
  - https://docs.helicone.ai/getting-started/integration-method/gateway
billingModel:
  pricingCategory: Tiered Subscription + Usage-Based Overage
  billingFrequency: Monthly
  billingCurrency: USD
  chargeCategories:
    - Purchase
    - Usage
    - Tax
    - Credit
    - Adjustment
  chargeFrequency: Recurring
focusColumns:
  ServiceName: Helicone
  ServiceCategory: AI Observability
  ProviderName: Helicone
  PublisherName: Helicone, Inc.
  InvoiceIssuerName: Helicone, Inc.
  PricingCategory: Tiered Subscription + Usage-Based
  PricingUnit: request
  BillingCurrency: USD
  ChargeCategory: Usage
principles:
  - name: Visibility
    description: Use the Helicone dashboard, request and session APIs, and HQL queries (Pro and above) to
      surface per-application LLM cost, latency, and token consumption in near real-time.
  - name: Allocation
    description: Tag each gateway call with custom properties (Helicone Property API) - e.g. team, environment,
      feature, customer-id - so cost can be attributed via the Property and User APIs.
  - name: Optimization
    description: Helicone-specific levers include caching, prompt versioning, model routing through the AI
      Gateway, retry/timeout tuning, and using the Evals API to compare cheaper models for the same quality.
  - name: Accountability
    description: Set per-organization budgets, configure alerts and reports (Pro and above), and use the
      dedicated Slack channel on Team and above to escalate spend anomalies.
domains:
  - name: Understand Usage and Cost
    capabilities:
      - Data Ingestion
      - Allocation
      - Reporting and Analytics
      - Anomaly Management
  - name: Quantify Business Value
    capabilities:
      - Planning and Estimating
      - Forecasting
      - Budgeting
      - Benchmarking
      - Unit Economics
  - name: Optimize Usage and Cost
    capabilities:
      - Architecting for Cloud
      - Rate Optimization
      - Workload Optimization
      - Licensing and SaaS
  - name: Manage the FinOps Practice
    capabilities:
      - FinOps Practice Operations
      - FinOps Education and Enablement
      - Invoicing and Chargeback
      - Onboarding Workloads
      - Intersecting Disciplines
meters:
  - name: subscription_fee
    description: Flat monthly subscription fee for the active Helicone tier (Pro $79, Team $799, Enterprise
      custom)
    unit: month
    aggregation: sum
    dimensions:
      - tier
      - organization
  - name: logged_requests
    description: Count of LLM requests logged through the AI Gateway or Request API
    unit: request
    aggregation: sum
    dimensions:
      - tier
      - organization
      - model
      - provider
      - consumer
  - name: request_overage
    description: Logged requests above the 10,000-per-month included quota, billed via the published
      pricing calculator
    unit: request
    aggregation: sum
    dimensions:
      - tier
      - organization
  - name: storage_used
    description: Stored payloads and trace data
    unit: GB
    aggregation: max
    dimensions:
      - tier
      - organization
      - retention_window
  - name: storage_overage
    description: Storage above the 1 GB included allotment, billed via the pricing calculator
    unit: GB
    aggregation: max
    dimensions:
      - tier
      - organization
  - name: seats
    description: Active seats per organization (Pro and above are unlimited; Hobby is 1)
    unit: seat
    aggregation: max
    dimensions:
      - tier
      - organization
  - name: organizations
    description: Number of organizations under the account (Hobby/Pro 1, Team 5, Enterprise unlimited)
    unit: organization
    aggregation: max
    dimensions:
      - tier
apis:
  - name: Helicone
    baseURL: ''
    tags:
      - AI Gateways
      - Gateways
      - LLM Routing
    serviceName: Helicone
    serviceCategory: AI Observability
  - name: Helicone AI Gateway API
    baseURL: https://ai-gateway.helicone.ai
    tags:
      - AI Gateways
      - AI Models
      - Chat Completions
      - LLM Routing
    serviceName: Helicone AI Gateway API
    serviceCategory: AI Observability
  - name: Helicone Request API
    baseURL: https://api.helicone.ai
    tags:
      - Analytics
      - LLM Observability
      - Requests
    serviceName: Helicone Request API
    serviceCategory: AI Observability
  - name: Helicone Prompt API
    baseURL: https://api.helicone.ai
    tags:
      - Prompt Management
      - Prompts
      - Versioning
    serviceName: Helicone Prompt API
    serviceCategory: AI Observability
  - name: Helicone Experiment API
    baseURL: https://api.helicone.ai
    tags:
      - Datasets
      - Evaluations
      - Experiments
    serviceName: Helicone Experiment API
    serviceCategory: AI Observability
  - name: Helicone Evals API
    baseURL: https://api.helicone.ai
    tags:
      - Evaluations
      - LLM Quality
      - Scoring
    serviceName: Helicone Evals API
    serviceCategory: AI Observability
  - name: Helicone Session API
    baseURL: https://api.helicone.ai
    tags:
      - Debugging
      - Sessions
      - Tracing
    serviceName: Helicone Session API
    serviceCategory: AI Observability
  - name: Helicone User API
    baseURL: https://api.helicone.ai
    tags:
      - Analytics
      - Metrics
      - Users
    serviceName: Helicone User API
    serviceCategory: AI Observability
  - name: Helicone Webhook API
    baseURL: https://api.helicone.ai
    tags:
      - Events
      - Notifications
      - Webhooks
    serviceName: Helicone Webhook API
    serviceCategory: AI Observability
  - name: Helicone Model Registry API
    baseURL: https://api.helicone.ai
    tags:
      - AI Models
      - Models
      - Registry
    serviceName: Helicone Model Registry API
    serviceCategory: AI Observability
  - name: Helicone Trace API
    baseURL: https://api.helicone.ai
    tags:
      - Logging
      - Observability
      - Tracing
    serviceName: Helicone Trace API
    serviceCategory: AI Observability
  - name: Helicone Dashboard API
    baseURL: https://api.helicone.ai
    tags:
      - Analytics
      - Dashboard
      - Scoring
    serviceName: Helicone Dashboard API
    serviceCategory: AI Observability
  - name: Helicone Property API
    baseURL: https://api.helicone.ai
    tags:
      - Custom Properties
      - Metadata
      - Properties
    serviceName: Helicone Property API
    serviceCategory: AI Observability
unitEconomics:
  - name: Cost per 1K Logged Requests
    metric: billed_cost / (logged_requests / 1000)
  - name: Cost per Active Organization
    metric: billed_cost / organizations
  - name: Subscription Effective Cost per Logged Request
    metric: subscription_fee / logged_requests
maintainers:
  - FN: Kin Lane
    email: kin@apievangelist.com