LangSmith vs Traceloop
Both are observability & tracing tools. Here is how they actually differ on price, billing model and deployment.
LangSmith
LangChain's proprietary observability and eval platform. Turnkey and deeply integrated with LangChain and LangGraph - but closed-source, and the trace bill explodes at production scale.
Traceloop
The company behind OpenLLMetry, acquired by ServiceNow in March 2026 to power AI Control Tower. The Apache-2.0 SDK is safe and still actively developed - the managed platform's standalone future is the open question.
| LangSmith | Traceloop | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Observability & Tracing | Observability & Tracing |
| Our rating | 3/5 | 3/5 |
| Starting price | $39/seat/mo | Custom |
| Billing meter | seat | span |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free self-hosting | No or paid tier only | Yes, free |
| Best for | Teams already all-in on LangChain and LangGraph who want the tightest-integrated observability and don't mind the bill | Teams that want vendor-neutral OpenTelemetry LLM instrumentation via OpenLLMetry, which is genuinely safe to adopt. The managed platform suits existing ServiceNow customers, or teams needing air-gapped deployment who can get contractual clarity on the roadmap. |
Our verdict on LangSmith
The most turnkey observability platform if you already live in LangChain and LangGraph - the tracing is zero-config and the eval tooling is genuinely good. But it's closed source, self-hosting is Enterprise-only, and the trace bill is roughly 25x Langfuse at scale. It's great until you scale or want out, and you can't self-host your way around either problem.
Full LangSmith review →Our verdict on Traceloop
Split this decision in two, because the SDK and the platform now carry very different risk. OpenLLMetry - the Apache-2.0 OpenTelemetry extension - is one of the safest things you can adopt in this category. It is permissively licensed, the team publicly committed it stays that way, it exports to 25+ backends including Datadog, and it remained actively maintained through the acquisition. You can instrument with it and never create a Traceloop account. The managed platform is a different question. ServiceNow acquired Traceloop in March 2026, reportedly for $60 to $80 million, and shipped the integration into AI Control Tower at Knowledge 2026 in May. The stated strategic purpose is enterprise AI governance inside ServiceNow, not an independent observability product. The site still promotes signups and nothing suggests a Helicone-style wind-down, but a standalone product whose parent bought it for a different purpose is a roadmap you do not control. Use the SDK freely. Get contractual clarity before you build on the platform.
Full Traceloop review →Frequently Asked Questions
What is the main difference between LangSmith and Traceloop?
LangSmith: Teams already all-in on LangChain and LangGraph who want the tightest-integrated observability and don't mind the bill Traceloop: Teams that want vendor-neutral OpenTelemetry LLM instrumentation via OpenLLMetry, which is genuinely safe to adopt. The managed platform suits existing ServiceNow customers, or teams needing air-gapped deployment who can get contractual clarity on the roadmap. Both sit in Observability & Tracing, so the decision usually comes down to billing model and deployment rather than raw capability.
Which is cheaper, LangSmith or Traceloop?
It depends entirely on your workload shape, because they meter differently - LangSmith bills on seat and Traceloop bills on span. Published starting prices are $39/seat/mo and Custom respectively, but those numbers are not comparable until you apply them to the same traffic. Use our cost calculator to model both against your own request volume and span count.
Can I self-host LangSmith or Traceloop?
LangSmith: No or paid tier only. Traceloop: Yes, free. Free self-hosting means no licence fee, not no cost - you still own the infrastructure, upgrades and on-call.