2026 Guide

Top 20 LLM Evaluation Tools 2026

The definitive comparison of every LLM evaluation, security, and observability tool. Updated March 2026.

Evaluation Frameworks

EvalGuard

Recommended

The all-in-one AI evaluation and security platform

249 attack plugins, 166 scorers, 87 LLM providers, compliance dashboard, LLM firewall, and full SaaS platform. Open source under Apache 2.0.

+ Most comprehensive attack + eval coverage+ Full SaaS + self-hosted+ EU AI Act + ISO 42001 compliance

Promptfoo

Open-source LLM eval, acquired by OpenAI (March 2026)

Popular open-source evaluation framework with 125 red team plugins, ~45 assertions, and 60+ providers. Acquired by OpenAI in March 2026. 10.5K GitHub stars, 300K+ developers. Free OSS, SaaS from $60/mo.

+ Large community (300K+ devs)+ 125 attack plugins+ Good CI/CD templates+ Free OSS (MIT)- Now OpenAI-owned- No firewall/gateway/tracing- No cost analytics

DeepEval / Confident AI

Python-native eval framework with growing red team

Python-first eval framework with 50+ metrics and 20+ attack methods (via DeepTeam). Native pytest integration. 12.8K GitHub stars, 400K+ monthly downloads. Free OSS, Confident AI from $19.99/seat.

+ Native pytest integration+ 12.8K GitHub stars+ 50+ metrics+ 6 compliance frameworks- Python only- 20+ attacks (vs 249)- No firewall/gateway/prompt IDE

Braintrust

Closed-source AI evaluation platform

AI evaluation platform focused on production eval workflows and CI/CD integration. Closed source, no self-hosting.

+ Polished eval UX+ $20M funding+ CI/CD integration- Closed source- No attack plugins- No self-hosting

MLflow

Databricks' ML lifecycle platform

Open-source ML lifecycle management with basic LLM eval. SaaS requires Databricks. No security testing.

+ Mature model registry+ Databricks ecosystem+ Large OSS community- ~12 eval scorers- No attack plugins- SaaS needs Databricks

Security & Red Teaming

Giskard

EU-focused red teaming with adaptive agents

European open-source AI red teaming platform with 40-50 vulnerability probes, 10-15 metrics, and dynamic multi-turn red teaming. 2 compliance frameworks. Enterprise SaaS requires paid plan.

+ Dynamic multi-turn red teaming+ SOC 2 Type II+ Enterprise customers (Michelin, BNP)- 40-50 probes (vs 249)- 10-15 scorers- No firewall/tracing/gateway

Garak (NVIDIA)

NVIDIA's LLM vulnerability scanner

Open-source LLM vulnerability scanner with 37+ probe modules. CLI only, no SaaS or eval capabilities.

+ Backed by NVIDIA+ Open source- Only 37 probes- CLI only- No eval scorers

PyRIT (Microsoft)

Microsoft's red team dev library

Python Risk Identification Toolkit for generative AI. Developer library, not a platform.

+ Backed by Microsoft+ 50+ attack types- Dev library only- No dashboard- No eval scorers

Mindgard

Enterprise AI security for SOC teams

Enterprise AI security platform with MITRE ATLAS alignment. SOC-focused, not developer-friendly.

+ Enterprise SOC focus+ MITRE ATLAS alignment- Closed source- Enterprise only- Not developer-friendly

Lakera (Check Point)

Enterprise LLM firewall (sub-50ms claimed), acquired by Check Point

AI security platform with enterprise-grade LLM firewall (sub-50ms latency claimed by Lakera; EvalGuard publishes 2.57ms p95 measured at /trust/latency), proprietary threat intelligence, and 5-8 metrics. Acquired by Check Point. No eval, no red teaming, no tracing, no prompt IDE. Free (10K req/mo), Enterprise custom.

+ LLM firewall (sub-50ms claimed)+ Proprietary threat intel+ Check Point backing- No eval or red teaming- No tracing/prompt IDE- No compliance frameworks

Purple Llama (Meta)

Meta's safety benchmarks and Llama Guard

Meta's open-source AI safety initiative with CyberSecEval and Llama Guard. Benchmarks and models, not a platform.

+ Backed by Meta+ Llama Guard model+ CyberSecEval- Not a platform- Llama-focused- No dashboard

Observability & Monitoring

Langfuse

Best-in-class open-source LLM observability (YC W23)

Leading open-source LLM observability platform with best-in-class tracing, prompt management, and 100+ providers via LiteLLM. Zero red teaming or built-in eval scorers. Free (25K spans), Pro $49/mo.

+ Best-in-class tracing+ 100+ providers (LiteLLM)+ Good prompt management+ YC W23- Zero attack plugins- No built-in eval scorers- No compliance/firewall

Maxim AI

End-to-end AI evaluation and observability

End-to-end AI evaluation and observability with agent simulation, tracing, cost tracking. 4 compliance certifications (SOC2, HIPAA, ISO 27001, GDPR). Free tier, usage-based pricing.

+ Agent simulation+ 4 compliance certs+ Cost tracking- Closed source- Limited attack plugins- No gateway

Arize AI / Phoenix

Best free observability (completely free, 7.8K stars)

Best completely free LLM observability platform with pre-built evaluators and many providers. 7.8K GitHub stars, 2.5M+ downloads. Zero red teaming, no firewall, no gateway, no prompt IDE.

+ Completely free+ 7.8K stars, 2.5M+ downloads+ Pre-built evaluators- Zero attack plugins- No firewall/gateway- 1 compliance framework

Datadog LLM Observability

Infrastructure monitoring giant adds LLM features

Industry-leading monitoring platform with recently added LLM observability. Zero evaluation or security testing capabilities.

+ Best-in-class monitoring+ 27K+ customers+ Deep APM- Zero attack plugins- Zero eval scorers- $35+/host/month

Weights & Biases

ML experiment tracking with Weave for LLMs

Leading ML experiment tracking platform. Weave adds basic LLM evaluation but no security testing.

+ Best experiment tracking+ Model registry+ Large community- No security testing- ~10 eval scorers (Weave)- No compliance

Big Tech (Vendor-Locked)

OpenAI Evals

Free eval, locked to OpenAI models

OpenAI's built-in evaluation framework. Free for OpenAI users but completely locked to the OpenAI ecosystem.

+ Free for OpenAI users+ Deep GPT integration- OpenAI models only- No red teaming- Vendor locked

Google Vertex AI Evaluation

GCP-only evaluation tools

Built-in model evaluation on Google Cloud. Works with Google models only, no standalone usage.

+ Free on GCP+ Gemini integration+ AutoML- GCP only- No red teaming- Vendor locked

Azure AI Content Safety

Content filtering locked to Azure

Azure's content moderation and prompt shielding. Strong content filtering but limited to Azure ecosystem.

+ Enterprise content filtering+ Azure compliance+ Prompt shields- Azure only- ~10 content categories- No eval scorers

Consulting Tools

ARTKIT (BCG)

BCG's red teaming Python library

BCG X's open-source toolkit for automated red teaming. Python library only, no SaaS or enterprise features.

+ BCG backing+ Structured testing+ Open source- ~15 attack probes- Python library only- No dashboard

Why teams choose EvalGuard

249 attack plugins. 166 eval scorers. 87 LLM providers. Compliance dashboard. LLM firewall. All in one open-source platform.

Alternatives | EvalGuard