head to head · open source
langchain vs claude-skills
langchain has 148,892 GitHub stars, 25,031 forks, 492 open issues and last shipped yesterday. claude-skills has 29,170 stars, 4,051 forks, 17 open issues and last shipped yesterday. langchain leads on adoption by 410% (148,892 vs 29,170 stars). langchain is written in Python under MIT; claude-skills is written in Python under MIT. langchain has attracted 17% as many forks as stars, claude-skills 14%. langchain was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
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-skills | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 149K | ★ 29K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | Python | Python |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 25K | ⑂ 4.1K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick langchain if
- You weight community size — 149K 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-skills if
- You want the claude-skills feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and claude-skills fits your workflow better
About langchain
The agent engineering platform. LangChain is a framework for building agents and LLM powered applications. It helps you chain together interoperable components and third party integrations to simplify AI application development — all while future proofing decisions as the underlying technology evolves. [!TIP] Just getting started? Check out Deep Agents — a higher level package built on LangChain for agents that have built in capabilities for common usage patterns such as planning, subagents, file system usage, and more. Quickstart If you're looking for more advanced customization or agent orchestration, check…
read the full langchain overview →
About claude-skills
Claude Code Skills & Plugins — Agent Skills for Every Coding Tool 388 production ready Claude Code skills, plugins, and agent skills for 13 AI coding tools. The most comprehensive open source library of Claude Code skills and agent plugins — also works with OpenAI Codex, Gemini CLI, Cursor, and 9 more coding agents. Reusable expertise packages covering engineering, DevOps, marketing (incl. AEO — Answer Engine Optimization for LLM citation), security (PreToolUse hooks), compliance, C level advisory (incl. founder mode CFO/CMO/CRO/CPO/COO/CHRO/CISO/GC/CDO/CAIO/CCO/VPE personas + 21 /cs: slash commands)…
read the full claude-skills overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is langchain or claude-skills more popular?
langchain has 148,892 GitHub stars and claude-skills has 29,170. langchain has the larger community by that measure.
Are langchain and claude-skills free?
Both are open source. langchain is licensed under MIT and claude-skills under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between langchain and claude-skills?
langchain is written in Python and claude-skills 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 claude-skills?
Choose langchain if you want the larger community (148,892 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose claude-skills if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.