Where Helicone fits
Helicone is the strongest choice when observability is the job. If you want to see every request and response, trace multi-step agents by session, run evals, experiment with prompts, and watch cost and latency per model — with an open-source stack you can self-host — Helicone is purpose-built for it. It is a thin, one-line integration: keep the provider accounts you already run, or let its credits stand in for them.
Where Kunavo wins
Kunavo removes the provider accounts and the per-provider math. Top up one wallet and call Claude, GPT, plus image, video and audio, below each provider's list price depending on the model — no Anthropic Console, no Google Cloud project, one balance. Generation endpoints are first-class, the native Anthropic Messages API is on the same key, and checkout is Stripe-native with local methods (Apple Pay, Alipay, WeChat Pay). Helicone tells you what your calls cost and sells them at the provider's price; Kunavo sells most of them below it and consolidates the bill.
How to pick (or use both)
Pick Helicone if deep observability, evals and an open-source, self-hostable stack is the priority, on your own keys or its credits. Pick Kunavo if you want resold inference on one prepaid wallet below list, first-class multimodal, and one balance to reconcile. They compose: put Helicone's proxy in front of Kunavo (base URL https://api.kunavo.com/v1) to log, trace and evaluate the exact calls running through Kunavo's discounted catalog.
How you pay: Helicone vs Kunavo
Helicone can sit on either side of this question, so it is worth being precise about which side you would end up on. Kunavo's checkout is Stripe-native, so the list follows the buyer rather than our billing country, and every method tops up the same prepaid API balance. Everywhere Stripe reaches: cards (Visa, Mastercard, Amex, JCB, UnionPay); everywhere except India, also Link and, on devices where they are set up, Apple Pay or Google Pay. In the United States: Cash App Pay, Klarna, Afterpay, ACH bank debit (3–5 business days to clear) and crypto (stablecoins), plus Affirm on top-ups of $100 and up and Zip on top-ups of $100 to $1,500. Elsewhere the local rail appears with the local currency: Alipay and WeChat Pay in mainland China; KakaoPay, Naver Pay, PAYCO, Samsung Pay and Korean domestic cards in South Korea; UPI in India; Pix in Brazil; iDEAL in the Netherlands, Bancontact in Belgium, EPS in Austria, MB WAY in Portugal, Satispay in Italy; BLIK in Poland; Bacs Direct Debit in the UK (a few business days to clear); and Pay by Bank for buyers in the UK, Ireland and Finland. Stripe converts the dollar amount into local currency on the checkout page, so nobody has to hunt for a card cleared for international purchases; its rate includes a 2–4% conversion fee, which paying in dollars avoids. Its AI Gateway resells provider access out of credits you top up at 0% markup — the path its own docs recommend — while the alternative is to bring your own provider keys and keep Helicone as an observability layer only. Either way the platform is a subscription on top of the model spend. Helicone does not publish which payment methods its credits page accepts, so for a buyer outside card-and-dollar territory the honest answer is that you find out after signing up. Kunavo publishes the list first, because for a lot of buyers it is the deciding fact rather than a detail.