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Best LLM Cost Tracking Tools 2026 (Part 2)

2026-03-20·ClawFirewall·4 minutes

Part 1: Criteria, ClawFirewall, LangSmith, OpenRouter ←

4. Helicone

Open-source observability tool, mainly for OpenAI. Solid if you're OpenAI-only and want something simple.

Features

  • Open-source, self-hostable
  • Real-time cost and token tracking for OpenAI
  • Prompt management and versioning
  • Basic spend alerts
  • Some support for other providers

Limitations

  • OpenAI-first, limited elsewhere
  • No OpenClaw or OpenRouter integration
  • No proactive budget controls or circuit breakers
  • Self-hosting requires setup and maintenance

Pricing

  • Free: 500k requests/mo
  • Pro: ~$20/mo per 1M requests

Best for: OpenAI-only teams who want open-source and basic tracking. Not a fit if you use OpenRouter/OpenClaw or need proactive controls.

5. Arize AI

Enterprise ML observability platform with LLM features added. Powerful for large teams with ML + LLM stacks. Heavy for most.

Features

  • End-to-end ML and LLM observability
  • Cost tracking and usage analytics
  • Model performance and drift monitoring
  • Custom dashboards and reporting
  • Multi-provider support

Limitations

  • Cost tracking is a small part of the product
  • Complex setup, needs a dedicated team
  • No native OpenClaw, limited OpenRouter
  • No proactive budget controls
  • Expensive—often $1k+/month, $10k+ for larger teams

Best for: Large enterprises with ML/LLM stacks and budget for enterprise tooling. Overkill for most.

6. PromptLayer

Lightweight prompt tracking with basic cost features. Easy to set up.

Features

  • Prompt tracking and logging
  • Basic cost and token breakdown
  • Prompt versioning
  • Multi-provider support

Limitations

  • Very limited cost tracking, no workflow/user breakdown
  • No optimization recommendations
  • No budget controls or circuit breakers
  • No OpenClaw/OpenRouter integration
  • No anomaly alerts

Best for: Solo devs or very small teams who only need prompt tracking and basic spend. Not enough for production agents.

Verdict

For most teams that care about cost control, ClawFirewall is the strongest option. It combines real-time granular tracking with proactive limits that stop overspend before it happens, native OpenRouter/OpenClaw support, and practical optimization suggestions. Setup is quick.

The others each have gaps: LangSmith is great for debugging but lacks controls; OpenRouter's dashboard is free but limited; Helicone is OpenAI-focused; Arize is enterprise-heavy; PromptLayer is too light for production.

Try ClawFirewall if you want to actually control spend, not just report it.