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

Canonical: https://theagenticweekly.com/what-is/langchain · Last verified: 2026-10-25 · Published: 2026-10-25 · Author: Agentic Weekly (operated independently from Texas, US) · Evidence: 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.

> 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.

## 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

Table: LangChain facts (vendor pages and GitHub, 2026-10-25)

|  | LangChain |
|---|---|
| Vendor | LangChain |
| License | MIT |
| Platforms | Python and JavaScript libraries |
| Pricing model | Free and open source |
| Free tier | Free to self-host |
| GitHub | langchain-ai/langchain: 148,451 stars, last push Oct 25, 2026 (GitHub API, Oct 25, 2026) |
| Latest release we saw | langchain-core 1.7.0 on Oct 22, 2026 |
| Evidence | Reported 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

- [LangChain](https://www.langchain.com/) (fetched 2026-10-25)
- [LangChain repository (GitHub)](https://github.com/langchain-ai/langchain) (fetched 2026-10-25)

## Related

- [LangChain facts and sources](https://theagenticweekly.com/tools/langchain)
- [Alternatives to LangChain](https://theagenticweekly.com/alternatives/langchain)
- [Agent building: all tools we track](https://theagenticweekly.com/best/agent-building)
- [LangChain vs Haystack](https://theagenticweekly.com/compare/langchain-vs-haystack)
- [LangChain vs LlamaIndex](https://theagenticweekly.com/compare/langchain-vs-llamaindex)
- [LangChain vs Vercel AI SDK](https://theagenticweekly.com/compare/langchain-vs-vercel-ai-sdk)
- [Mem0 vs LangChain](https://theagenticweekly.com/compare/mem0-vs-langchain)
- [Pydantic AI vs LangChain](https://theagenticweekly.com/compare/pydantic-ai-vs-langchain)
- [Semantic Kernel vs LangChain](https://theagenticweekly.com/compare/semantic-kernel-vs-langchain)

## Changelog

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

## How to cite

Agentic Weekly, "What is LangChain? Facts, license and pricing (Oct 2026)", last updated 2026-10-25, https://theagenticweekly.com/what-is/langchain