Braintrust drops trace spans metric, rebrands Free tier as Starter
What happened
Between the Mar 16, 2026 and Mar 23, 2026 captures of Braintrust's pricing page, Pulse recorded 2 changes: Trace spans metric removed from pricing page; previously showed 1 million spans (Free) and Unlimited spans (Pro); Free plan renamed to Starter with new overage pricing [Storage overage: +$4/GB added; Scores overage: +$2.50/1k added; plan tagline 'For everyone' and $0/month base price unchanged]. Pulse files it as a packaging change (metric change, plan renamed) with a neutral direction. Pulse's latest capture (Aug 3, 2026) lists Pro at $249.
Braintrust's previous recorded change was "Braintrust Expands User Limits: Pro and Free Plans Now Offer Unlimited Users" (Q3 2025). Before that Pulse recorded "Braintrust Shifts to Metric-Based Pricing Model, Discontinues Free Unlimited Plan and Introduces Pro Plan at $249/Month" (Q2 2025) and "Braintrust Removes Unlimited Private Experiments from Open Source and .edu Plans, Impacting User Flexibility" (Dec 2024). Braintrust has been tracked since 2024-11-17.
In the same window Kontentino and Upwork also changed their Business Operations pricing pages. Those moves are listed further down, and the Pulse Agent can compare them side by side.
- Pro · Pricing modelRemovedTrace spans metricNo Trace spans metric
- Starter · PlanRenamedFree planStarter
| Plan | Field | Before | After | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pro | Pricing model | Trace spans metric | No Trace spans metric | Removed |
| Starter | Plan | Free plan | Starter | Renamed |
Values as written on Braintrust's public pricing page in the two captures Pulse compared; where the page states no number, the cells give the wording before and after.
Evidence
The two captures Pulse comparedFull-page captures of Braintrust's pricing page (braintrust.dev) from Mar 16, 2026 and Mar 23, 2026; the change is marked near the top of the page, where the Trace spans metric no longer appears.
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Braintrust, pricing history
Full history- Jun 8, 2026improvedBraintrust adds Topics to comparison table with credit-based pricing
- Apr 1, 2026packagingBraintrust renames storage metric to processed data across plans
- Apr 3, 2026packagingBraintrust Cuts Free Tier to Starter, Adds Pay-Per-Use Overages
- Mar 23, 2026packagingBraintrust drops trace spans metric, rebrands Free tier as Starter · this change
- Q3 2025improvedBraintrust Expands User Limits: Pro and Free Plans Now Offer Unlimited Users
- Q2 2025packagingBraintrust Shifts to Metric-Based Pricing Model, Discontinues Free Unlimited Plan and Introduces Pro Plan at $249/Month
- Dec 2024packagingBraintrust Removes Unlimited Private Experiments from Open Source and .edu Plans, Impacting User Flexibility
Across Business Operations in the same window
All Business Operations changes- KontentinoOct 26Kontentino moves client approvals down from Standard into Starter plan
- UpworkOct 5Upwork adds bulk pay and milestone management across contracts
- UpworkAug 24Upwork raises Business Plus daily message cap from 10 to 15
- KontentinoJul 3Kontentino: replaced Starter+ tier with new Pro tier for agencies
- KontentinoMay 13Kontentino overhauls pricing, adds Pro plan at €199/mo
Questions about this change
Did Braintrust raise prices in March 2026?
No list-price increase was recorded between Mar 16, 2026 and Mar 23, 2026. The change Pulse detected was a packaging change: metric change, plan renamed.
What changed on Braintrust's pricing page between Mar 16, 2026 and Mar 23, 2026?
Pro pricing model: Trace spans metric → No Trace spans metric, removed; Starter plan: Free plan → Starter, renamed. Pulse compared the captures it took on Mar 16, 2026 and Mar 23, 2026; the before/after table above lists each item as written on the page.
How often does Braintrust change its pricing?
Pulse recorded 0 other pricing-page changes for Braintrust in the 90 days before this one; the previous change was "Braintrust Expands User Limits: Pro and Free Plans Now Offer Unlimited Users" in Q3 2025; Braintrust has been tracked since 2024-11-17.