DeepEval vs Prompt flow
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted self-hosted ai options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | DeepEval | Prompt flow |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 95 · Excellent | 78 · Good |
| Category | Self-Hosted AI | Self-Hosted AI |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Language | Python | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 2,048 MB |
| Deployment | source | docker, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 18,419 | ★ 11,244 |
| First released | 2023 | 2023 |
| Replaces | LangSmith, Braintrust | LangSmith, Vertex AI |
What are DeepEval and Prompt flow?
DeepEval
DeepEval is an open-source evaluation framework that brings unit-testing-style assertions to large language model outputs. It includes metrics for hallucination, relevancy, and bias and integrates with pytest for local CI.
- Pytest-style LLM tests
- 14+ built-in metrics
- Synthetic dataset generation
- CI/CD integration
Prompt flow
Prompt flow is an open-source development toolkit from Microsoft for building, testing, and evaluating LLM-powered applications. It provides a visual flow editor, batch evaluation, and tooling to debug prompt pipelines locally.
- Visual flow authoring
- Batch evaluation runs
- Local debugging tools
- VS Code extension
DeepEval vs Prompt flow: key differences
Both projects are written in Python. Licensing differs — Apache-2.0 for DeepEval versus MIT for Prompt flow. DeepEval is the lighter option, starting around 1,024 MB of RAM against 2,048 MB for Prompt flow. Prompt flow lists first-class Docker deployment; DeepEval does not.
Why pick each one
Choose DeepEval if…
- Pytest-style LLM tests
- Rich metric library
- Runs in CI
Watch out for
- LLM judge token costs
- Cloud platform upsell
Choose Prompt flow if…
- Released under the MIT license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 11.2k GitHub stars
- Written in Python
Frequently asked questions
Is DeepEval or Prompt flow better?
Neither is universally better. DeepEval has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are DeepEval and Prompt flow free and open-source?
Yes. DeepEval is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Prompt flow under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run DeepEval and Prompt flow with Docker?
DeepEval: check the project docs for container support. Prompt flow: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, DeepEval or Prompt flow?
DeepEval has the smaller minimum footprint at 1,024 MB of RAM, compared to about 2,048 MB for Prompt flow. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.