head to head · open source
langchain vs E2B
langchain has 148,892 GitHub stars, 25,031 forks, 492 open issues and last shipped yesterday. E2B has 14,676 stars, 1,148 forks, 59 open issues and last shipped yesterday. langchain leads on adoption by 915% (148,892 vs 14,676 stars). langchain is written in Python under MIT; E2B is written in Python under Apache-2.0. langchain has attracted 17% as many forks as stars, E2B 8%. langchain was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (ai, ai-agents), 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 | E2B | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 149K | ★ 15K |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Python | Python |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 25K | ⑂ 1.1K |
| 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 E2B if
- You want the E2B 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 E2B 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 E2B
What is E2B? E2B is an open source infrastructure that allows you to run AI generated code in secure isolated sandboxes in the cloud. To start and control sandboxes, use our JavaScript SDK or Python SDK. Run your first Sandbox 1. Install SDK JavaScript / TypeScript Python 2. Get your E2B API key 1. Sign up to E2B here. 2. Get your API key here. 3. Set environment variable with your API key 3. Start a sandbox and run commands JavaScript / TypeScript Python 4. Code execution with Code Interpreter If you need to execute code with runCode() / run code() , install the Code Interpreter SDK (JavaScript / Python): 5…
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Frequently asked questions
Is langchain or E2B more popular?
langchain has 148,892 GitHub stars and E2B has 14,676. langchain has the larger community by that measure.
Are langchain and E2B free?
Both are open source. langchain is licensed under MIT and E2B under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between langchain and E2B?
langchain is written in Python and E2B 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 E2B?
Choose langchain if you want the larger community (148,892 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose E2B if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.