// comparison
Braintrust vs LangSmith: LLM Evals and Tracing
By the TrueIQ editorial team at Ahzy Capital · Prices last verified Oct 28, 2026 · How we test
Both platforms trace LLM calls and run evaluations. LangSmith comes from the LangChain team and fits naturally with LangChain and LangGraph. Braintrust is framework agnostic and built around evals and experiments.
| Braintrust | LangSmith | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | End to end platform for evaluating AI products, with datasets, scorers, prompt playgrounds and production logging. | LangChain's platform for tracing, evaluating and monitoring LLM apps and agents, framework agnostic. |
| Category | LLM Evals | Observability |
| Free tier | Yes ($0 Starter) | Yes (1 seat Developer) |
| Entry paid price | Pro $249/mo | Plus $39/seat/mo + usage |
| Pricing source | Official page | Official page |
| Last verified | Oct 28, 2026 | Oct 28, 2026 |
Pricing model
LangSmith's free Developer plan covers one seat, and its Plus plan is priced per seat plus usage. Braintrust's free Starter plan includes credits and processed data, and Pro is a flat monthly platform fee plus usage. For a large team with light usage, per seat pricing adds up. For a small team with heavy tracing, check the usage rates on both pages.
Fit
If your app is built on LangChain or LangGraph, LangSmith needs the least setup. If you use several frameworks or call model APIs directly, and evals are the center of how you ship, Braintrust is designed around that workflow.
Verdict
LangChain users: start with LangSmith. Teams that want evals first and don't depend on one framework: try Braintrust. Both free tiers are enough to instrument a prototype and compare on your own traces.
Prices change often. See the live pricing tracker for the latest checked figures.
Related guides
- Langfuse vs LangSmith: Which Should You Use?
- Best LLM Observability Tools in 2026, Compared
- Best LLM Evaluation Frameworks in 2026, Compared