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What is LangChain? Facts, license and pricing (Oct 2026)

LangChain is open-source framework for building LLM applications and agents in Python and JavaScript, from the team behind LangGraph and LangSmith. License: MIT. Its GitHub repository (langchain-ai/langchain) had 148,451 stars on Oct 25, 2026. Facts were read from official pages on Oct 25, 2026 and are Reported, not Tested.

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Evidence: Reported. Everything here was read from LangChain's own pages and the public GitHub API on 2026-10-25 (America/Chicago). We have not run LangChain for this page, so it says nothing about quality or speed.

What LangChain is

LangChain's repository is MIT-licensed; the newest release we saw was langchain-core 1.7.0 on Oct 22, 2026. LangChain is the base library and integration layer; LangGraph (already covered here) is the lower-level orchestration runtime for stateful agents.

We list LangChain under Agent building.

LangChain key facts

LangChain facts (vendor pages and GitHub, 2026-10-25)
FeatureLangChain
VendorLangChain
LicenseMIT
PlatformsPython and JavaScript libraries
Pricing modelFree and open source
Free tierFree to self-host
GitHublangchain-ai/langchain: 148,451 stars, last push Oct 25, 2026 (GitHub API, Oct 25, 2026)
Latest release we sawlangchain-core 1.7.0 on Oct 22, 2026
EvidenceReported from vendor pages

Who LangChain is for

  • Good for: Developers who want the widest set of integrations.
  • Good for: Teams that will pair it with LangGraph for stateful agents.
  • Skip if: You want a minimal library with few abstractions.
  • Skip if: You only need one model provider's SDK.

How to start with LangChain

  1. Install the package (pip install langchain or npm install langchain) and follow the quickstart in the official docs.

LangChain alternatives

  • LangGraph: Low-level framework for building long-running, stateful agents as graphs.
  • LlamaIndex: Open-source data framework for retrieval-augmented generation and document-centred agents, with a hosted document platform alongside.
  • CrewAI: Python framework for orchestrating role-playing, autonomous AI agents that work as a crew.

What we did not verify

  • Production reliability by version (not tested).
  • Output quality, speed and reliability of LangChain: we have not run it for this page.

FAQ

What is LangChain?

LangChain's repository is MIT-licensed; the newest release we saw was langchain-core 1.7.0 on Oct 22, 2026. LangChain is the base library and integration layer; LangGraph (already covered here) is the lower-level orchestration runtime for stateful agents.

What license is LangChain under?

MIT. Read from the project's own pages on Oct 25, 2026.

Is LangChain free?

Free to self-host. Checked Oct 25, 2026; prices change, so confirm on the vendor's page.

Sources

Page history

  • : First published from official pages read on 2026-10-25.

Markdown version for agents: /what-is/langchain.md