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LlamaIndex vs Haystack: license, pricing and features compared (October 2026)

LlamaIndex and Haystack are both listed under Agent building. License: LlamaIndex is MIT; Haystack is Apache-2.0. GitHub stars on Oct 25, 2026: LlamaIndex 52,662 (run-llama/llama_index) vs Haystack 26,842 (deepset-ai/haystack). Stars measure attention, not quality. LlamaIndex is the better fit for: RAG and document-question-answering projects. Haystack is the better fit for: production RAG pipelines. Facts were read from vendor and GitHub pages on Oct 25, 2026 and are Reported; what we ran ourselves is under What we measured.

Our pick: Pick LlamaIndex for RAG and document-question-answering projects; pick Haystack for production RAG pipelines. No overall winner: we have not benchmarked them against each other. Updated (America/Chicago).

By Agentic Weekly, operated independently from Texas, US · Published · Last updated (America/Chicago) · How we work

Evidence: Both tools have a Tested entry (scope on each tool page). The facts in the tables were read from each vendor's own pages and the public GitHub API on 2026-10-25 (America/Chicago) and are Reported. The What we measured section lists what we have actually run, with links to the test logs, and what we have not run yet; anything we could not confirm is marked as not captured.

LlamaIndex

LlamaIndex · v0.14.25

Tested (smoke test)

Open-source data framework for retrieval-augmented generation and document-centred agents, with a hosted document platform alongside.

Haystack

deepset · v3.4.1

Tested (smoke test)

Apache-2.0 Python framework for building search, RAG and agent pipelines, maintained by deepset.

Side by side, from what we recorded

Each row compares one recorded fact for both tools. Rows are not weighted and nothing is added up into a score; the note under each row says what the marker means.

  • Evidence

    Tested (smoke test) for LlamaIndex
    Tested (smoke test) for Haystack

    Tested = we ran it (smoke test); Reported = we read official sources

  • Smoke-test result

    Passed for LlamaIndex
    Passed for Haystack

    Each tool's own smoke test on the same CPU-only machine; tasks differ unless the logs say otherwise

  • GitHub stars

    52,662 (LlamaIndex is ahead on this row) for LlamaIndex
    26,842 for Haystack

    Attention, not quality. Read Oct 25, 2026 / Oct 25, 2026

  • Most recent release we saw

    Sep 21, 2026 for LlamaIndex
    Oct 21, 2026 (Haystack is ahead on this row) for Haystack

    More recent = newer release date; says nothing about quality

  • Pricing we could verify

    Verified from official page for LlamaIndex
    Verified from official page for Haystack

    About our evidence only, not about the price

  • Steps in our setup guide

    2 for LlamaIndex
    2 for Haystack

    Counts our guide's steps, not difficulty

  • Sources we cite

    2 for LlamaIndex
    2 for Haystack

    How much we had to read; more is not better

A list of recorded differences, not a quality score or a ranking. We have not benchmarked these tools against each other; the smoke-test row links each tool's own log. How we label evidence.

What we measured

We ran both LlamaIndex and Haystack ourselves; the table links each full test log. These are smoke tests on one CPU-only machine, not benchmarks. Both ran the same task on the same local model, so the two results are comparable on that one task only. Model-driven runs used a small local Qwen2.5-3B-Instruct model.

Our own tests for LlamaIndex and Haystack
TestLlamaIndexHaystack
Hands-on test log (install and a real task)Tested: LlamaIndex 0.14.25, Oct 25, 2026: passed. LlamaIndex 0.14.25 passed our one-tool task on a local 3B model: 3 of 3 trials; cold uv install 3.4 s. Full test logTested: Haystack 3.4.1, Oct 25, 2026: passed. Haystack 3.4.1 passed our one-tool task on a local 3B model: 3 of 3 trials; cold uv install 2.3 s. Full test log

How we test and label results: methodology. All test logs: test hub.

LlamaIndex vs Haystack at a glance

LlamaIndex and Haystack are both listed under Agent building. Agentic Weekly's LlamaIndex page names Haystack as an alternative. LlamaIndex: Open-source data framework for retrieval-augmented generation and document-centred agents, with a hosted document platform alongside. Haystack: Apache-2.0 Python framework for building search, RAG and agent pipelines, maintained by deepset.

LlamaIndex and Haystack side by side (vendor pages and GitHub, 2026-10-25)
FeatureLlamaIndexHaystack
VendorLlamaIndexdeepset
Listed underAgent buildingAgent building
LicenseMITApache-2.0
Pricing modelFree and open sourceFree and open source
Free tierFree to self-hostFree to self-host
Paid plansNone listed for the libraryNone listed for the library
PlatformsPython and TypeScript libraries; hosted cloud productPython
Public repositoryrun-llama/llama_index: 52,662 stars, last push Oct 23, 2026 UTC (GitHub API, Oct 25, 2026)deepset-ai/haystack: 26,842 stars, last push Oct 24, 2026 UTC (GitHub API, Oct 25, 2026)
Latest release we sawv0.14.25, Sep 21, 2026v3.4.1, Oct 21, 2026
EvidenceTested (scope on its tool page)Tested (scope on its tool page)

How LlamaIndex and Haystack differ

  • License: LlamaIndex is MIT; Haystack is Apache-2.0.
  • GitHub stars on Oct 25, 2026: LlamaIndex 52,662 (run-llama/llama_index) vs Haystack 26,842 (deepset-ai/haystack). Stars measure attention, not quality.
  • Plans and prices differ and are not like-for-like (credits, seats and usage limits vary), so we do not name a cheaper tool. The Paid plans row above quotes each vendor's plan list as read on Oct 25, 2026.
  • Latest release we saw: Haystack v3.4.1 on Oct 21, 2026; LlamaIndex v0.14.25 on Sep 21, 2026 (30 days earlier).
  • Platforms as the vendors list them: LlamaIndex: Python and TypeScript libraries; hosted cloud product. Haystack: Python.

Both are listed as "Free and open source", so compare the plan tables rather than the model.

Which should you pick?

  • Pick LlamaIndex if: RAG and document-question-answering projects; teams with lots of PDFs and unstructured data. Skip it if: you need a general multi-agent orchestrator rather than data tooling.
  • Pick Haystack if: production RAG pipelines; teams that like explicit pipeline components. Skip it if: you want a visual builder.

Strengths and limits

Strengths and limits as listed on each tool page
FeatureLlamaIndexHaystack
StrengthsStrong data-ingestion focus; MIT licenseApache-2.0; Active releases
LimitsHosted product pricing not read here; Our test was one small task on a local 3B model; it does not show behaviour with hosted models or larger jobsPython only; Our test was one small task on a local 3B model; it does not show behaviour with hosted models or larger jobs

What we did not verify

  • LlamaIndex: Hosted product pricing.
  • Haystack: Hosted platform pricing.
  • Output quality, speed and reliability beyond the smoke tests listed under What we measured: not compared.

FAQ

Is LlamaIndex or Haystack open source?

LlamaIndex: MIT. Haystack: Apache-2.0. Licenses come from each project's GitHub repository or the vendor's own pages, read Oct 25, 2026; read the license text itself before redistributing or building a competing service.

Does LlamaIndex or Haystack have a free plan?

LlamaIndex: Free: to self-host. Haystack: Free: to self-host. Checked Oct 25, 2026; prices and limits change, so confirm on each vendor's page.

Which was updated more recently, LlamaIndex or Haystack?

LlamaIndex's newest release we saw is v0.14.25 (Sep 21, 2026); Haystack's is v3.4.1 (Oct 21, 2026). Read Oct 25, 2026 from the official release page or repository; a newer date is not a quality ranking.

What is the main difference between LlamaIndex and Haystack?

License: LlamaIndex is MIT; Haystack is Apache-2.0. GitHub stars on Oct 25, 2026: LlamaIndex 52,662 (run-llama/llama_index) vs Haystack 26,842 (deepset-ai/haystack). Stars measure attention, not quality.

Sources

Page history

  • : First published. Facts read from vendor pages and the GitHub API on 2026-10-25.

Markdown version for agents: /compare/llamaindex-vs-haystack.md