head to head · open source
langchain vs claude-mem
langchain has 146,538 GitHub stars, 24,504 forks, 492 open issues and last shipped yesterday. claude-mem has 94,125 stars, 8,305 forks, 186 open issues and last shipped yesterday. langchain leads on adoption by 56% (146,538 vs 94,125 stars). langchain is written in Python under MIT; claude-mem is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0. langchain has attracted 17% as many forks as stars, claude-mem 9%. langchain was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 3 topic tags (ai, ai-agents, anthropic), 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 | claude-mem | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 147K | ★ 94K |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Python | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 25K | ⑂ 8.3K |
| 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 claude-mem if
- You want the claude-mem feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and claude-mem 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 claude-mem
claude mem is an Apache 2.0 TypeScript memory layer for AI coding agents that captures what an agent did during a session, compresses it with AI, and injects the relevant parts back into future sessions, built for developers running Claude Code, OpenClaw, Codex, Gemini, Hermes, Copilot, OpenCode and similar tools.
read the full claude-mem overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is langchain or claude-mem more popular?
langchain has 146,538 GitHub stars and claude-mem has 94,125. langchain has the larger community by that measure.
Are langchain and claude-mem free?
Both are open source. langchain is licensed under MIT and claude-mem under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between langchain and claude-mem?
langchain is written in Python and claude-mem in TypeScript. 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 claude-mem?
Choose langchain if you want the larger community (146,538 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose claude-mem if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.