Overview

LangChain vs LlamaIndex: RAG and Agent Framework Comparison

Compare LangChain and LlamaIndex across RAG, data connectors, indexing, retrieval, agent capabilities, and application development.

Projects Compared

LangChain

Python · MIT

144.4k ★

LangChain is the open-source agent engineering platform that unifies model IO, tool calling, RAG, memory and observability under one composable framework.

agent-frameworkragorchestrationllmpython
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LlamaIndex

Python · MIT

51.7k ★

LlamaIndex is a data framework for building LLM applications. It provides data connectors, indexing, query engines, and agent workflow orchestration — a core tool in the RAG ecosystem.

ragdata-frameworkindexingquery-enginepython
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Feature Comparison

Best for LangChainLlamaIndex
Core strength General-purpose LLM application orchestration and agent ecosystem, suitable for end-to-end application development Strong data framework and RAG retrieval capabilities, suitable for knowledge bases and enterprise data Q&A
RAG capability Covers the full RAG workflow through combinations of ecosystem components Focuses on indexing, retrieval, query engines, and data connectors
Agent capability Rich agent abstractions and tool ecosystem Supports agents, but is more oriented toward data- and retrieval-driven applications

GitHub Stats

Metric LangChainLlamaIndex
Stars 144.4k51.7k
Forks 24.0k8.0k
Language PythonPython
License MITMIT
Last commit August 16, 2026August 14, 2026

Which one should you choose?

Choose based on your primary workflow, language ecosystem, and integration needs. Review each project's documentation and recent GitHub activity before adopting it in production.