head to head · open source
langchain vs beeai-framework
langchain has 146,562 GitHub stars, 24,508 forks, 492 open issues and last shipped yesterday. beeai-framework has 3,405 stars, 494 forks, 14 open issues and last shipped yesterday. langchain leads on adoption by 4,204% (146,562 vs 3,405 stars). langchain is written in Python under MIT; beeai-framework is written in Python under Apache-2.0. langchain has attracted 17% as many forks as stars, beeai-framework 15%. beeai-framework was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 3 topic tags (agents, ai, framework), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| langchain | beeai-framework | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 147K | ★ 3.4K |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Python | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 25K | ⑂ 494 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick langchain if
- You weight community size — 147K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick beeai-framework if
- You want the beeai-framework feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and beeai-framework fits your workflow better
About langchain
LangChain is an open source framework for building agents and LLM powered applications, written in Python and released under the MIT license. It lives in the AI and machine learning ecosystem, specifically among AI development platforms, and it works by chaining together interoperable components and third party integrations so that AI application development becomes simpler. The project describes itself as the agent engineering platform, and its abstractions are designed to keep applications working as the underlying technology evolves.
read the full langchain overview →
About beeai-framework
BeeAI Framework is an open source, Apache 2.0 toolkit governed by the Linux Foundation under LF AI & Data for building production ready autonomous agents and multi agent systems in either Python or TypeScript.
read the full beeai-framework overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is langchain or beeai-framework more popular?
langchain has 146,562 GitHub stars and beeai-framework has 3,405. langchain has the larger community by that measure.
Are langchain and beeai-framework free?
Both are open source. langchain is licensed under MIT and beeai-framework under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between langchain and beeai-framework?
langchain is written in Python and beeai-framework in Python. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, langchain or beeai-framework?
Choose langchain if you want the larger community (146,562 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose beeai-framework if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.