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Braintrust vs Patronus AI
Braintrust and Patronus AI are tools for testing AI products: Braintrust scores an AI app's outputs so a team can catch a change that made it worse, and Patronus AI builds training data and simulated environments that AI labs use to test and train agents. Our editors read both companies' own sites, then read what AI engineers say about the two tools in public reviews, community boards and chat forums. The table below compares price, limits and features.
| What buyers compare | Braintrust | Patronus AI |
|---|---|---|
| Price per monthSources 3, 4 | Starter $0. Pro $249. Enterprise: quote | Quote |
| Free plan or trialSources 3, 4 | Free Starter plan, no credit card. 6 to 12 months of Pro free for qualifying startups Free plan | Not published |
| How usage is countedSources 3, 4 | Starter: 1 GB processed data then $4 per GB, 10,000 scores then $2.50 per 1,000, 14-day retention. Pro: 5 GB then $3 per GB, 50,000 scores then $1.50 per 1,000, 30-day retention | Scoped per project |
| Seats and usersSources 3, 4 | Unlimited users, projects, datasets and experiments on every plan | Not published |
| Integrations and featuresSources 3, 4 | Model credits included ($10 Starter, $100 Pro), then token rates. Built-in Loop agent runs evals and drafts test cases | Training data, tasks and simulated environments for reinforcement learning |
| Security and deploymentSources 3, 4 | Enterprise: on-premises or hosted deployment, custom retention and export, role-based access | Not published |
| Best forSources 1, 2 | AI product teams that change prompts or models often and will keep a scored dataset | AI labs that buy reinforcement learning tasks, graders and simulated software environments to train agents on long, multistep work |
List prices in US dollars per month before tax, as published on each vendor's site on October 16, 2026, billed monthly unless the cell says otherwise. "Quote" means the vendor sets the price through its sales team. A green check marks a row where the published data shows a clear edge.
Which one fits
The two solve different problems, so start with whether you are testing your own app or training agents.
Choose Braintrust if
- You change prompts or models often and want each change scored against a saved dataset before it ships.
- You want to start free with the whole team. Starter includes unlimited users and 10,000 scores per month.
- You can predict your bill from usage. Braintrust publishes rates for processed data, scores and retention on each plan.
Choose Patronus AI if
- You are an AI lab or a platform team that needs simulated environments to test or train agents on long, multistep tasks.
- You want a vendor to build the training data and tasks for you. Patronus scopes and prices each project with the customer.
- You are testing agents before release more than you are monitoring a live app.
What buyers say
“Braintrust is better for dataset regression and experiment diffs while you ship prompts. Patronus is better when you want automated scorers aimed at hallucination and safety checks.”
fakewrld_999 · r/LocalLLaMA · · source
“Go with Braintrust if the team already has curated eval sets. Go with Patronus if the pain is automated judges more than experiment tracking.”
No-Brick9938 · r/AIQuality · · source
“Braintrust scores every prompt change against our saved dataset before it ships, and the usage rates are published, so we can predict the bill. Patronus is aimed at labs that want simulated environments, which is not our use.”
Machine learning engineer, enterprise software company
Representative buyer view
Verdict
Braintrust (7.8 out of 10, Recommend) is for product teams that change prompts or models often and want each change scored against a saved dataset, with a free plan for the whole team and published usage rates. Patronus AI (6.7 out of 10, Conditional recommend) is for AI labs and platform teams that want a vendor to build training data and simulated environments for testing agents on long, multistep tasks, priced project by project.
Methodology
We read the Braintrust and Patronus AI pricing pages and product sites on October 16, 2026 and recorded every published price, limit and plan feature. A cell reads "Not published" when the vendor does not state that detail on its site, and rows where neither vendor publishes anything were left out.
Scores, best-fit notes and buyer quotes come from the AIR reviews of each product, which weight practitioner reviews at 40%, hands-on product checks at 35%, pricing at 15% and docs at 10%. Paid reviews and pay-for-play sites are excluded. Quotes marked Representative buyer view are written by AIR to reflect buyer feedback and carry no source link.