Software · head to head
LangChain vs LlamaIndex
The short version
- Each has a real cost: LangChain the free Developer plan of LangSmith is limited to 1 seat; LlamaIndex the free LlamaCloud plan includes 10K credits and has no pay as you go option, so work stops when credits run out
- They diverge on capability: LangChain covers Chains and agents, LlamaIndex covers Data connectors.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which LangChain and LlamaIndex actually diverge.
| Attribute | LangChain | LlamaIndex |
|---|
Identical on both: starting price (Free), pricing model (freemium), free tier (Yes), platforms (Linux, Mac, Windows), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Unknown), founded (2022).
What each one covers
Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.
Only in LangChain
- Chains and agents
- Retrieval-augmented generation
- Memory management
- Tool integration
- Prompt templates
- Hugging Face
Only in LlamaIndex
- Data connectors
- Indexing
- Query engine
- RAG pipelines
- Agents
- Weaviate
Both cover
- OpenAI
- Anthropic
- Pinecone
- Chroma
- Linux support
- Mac support
- Windows support
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
LangChain
- Building LLM applications and agents in Python or JavaScriptnot LlamaIndex
- Tracing and debugging LLM chains and agent runsnot LlamaIndex
- Evaluating prompt and model changes against datasetsnot LlamaIndex
LlamaIndex
- Parsing PDFs and complex documents into structured text for RAGnot LangChain
- Building retrieval augmented generation pipelines over private datanot LangChain
- Indexing and querying enterprise documents from an LLM applicationnot LangChain
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
LangChain
- The free Developer plan of LangSmith is limited to 1 seat
- Base traces are retained for 14 days only; 400 day retention costs extra
- Included traces are capped at 5,000 per month on Developer and 10,000 per month on Plus, with everything beyond billed pay as you go
- Self hosted and hybrid deployment of LangSmith is Enterprise only
- Custom SSO, RBAC and ABAC are Enterprise only
- A support SLA is Enterprise only
- Enterprise pricing is by quote with no published rate
LlamaIndex
- The free LlamaCloud plan includes 10K credits and has no pay as you go option, so work stops when credits run out
- Concurrent parse jobs are capped at 5 on Free and Starter, 20 on Pro and 100 on Enterprise
- Pay as you go spend is capped at $500 per month on Starter and $5,000 per month on Pro
- Enterprise SSO is Enterprise plan only
- Volume discounts on credits and 5x higher rate limits are Enterprise only
- SaaS or hybrid cloud deployment choice and a dedicated account manager are Enterprise only
- Enterprise pricing is by quote with no published rate
Pricing, plan by plan
LangChain
Free- Open SourceFree
- Full framework
- Community support
- LangSmith$39/month
- Debugging
- Monitoring
- Testing
LlamaIndex
Free- Open SourceFree
- Full framework
- All connectors
- LlamaCloudFree
- Managed parsing
- Enterprise features
Which should you pick?
Choose LangChain if
- You need chains and agents.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Linux, Mac, Windows.
- You also want retrieval-augmented generation.
Choose LlamaIndex if
- You need data connectors.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Linux, Mac, Windows.
- You also want indexing.
Questions people ask
- Is LangChain or LlamaIndex better?
- Neither clearly leads. LangChain starts at Free and LlamaIndex at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, LangChain or LlamaIndex?
- LangChain starts at Free and LlamaIndex at Free.
- Does LangChain or LlamaIndex run on more platforms?
- Both run on Linux, Mac, Windows, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
- Can I use LangChain for free?
- Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
- What is LangChain best used for?
- LangChain is most often used for building llm applications and agents in python or javascript, tracing and debugging llm chains and agent runs, evaluating prompt and model changes against datasets. Of those, building llm applications and agents in python or javascript and tracing and debugging llm chains and agent runs are not what LlamaIndex is typically brought in for.
- What can LangChain do that LlamaIndex cannot?
- LangChain covers Chains and agents, Retrieval-augmented generation, Memory management, Tool integration. LlamaIndex covers Data connectors, Indexing, Query engine, RAG pipelines. Both handle OpenAI, Anthropic, Pinecone, Chroma.