head to head · open source
langchain vs E2B
langchain has 146,538 GitHub stars, 24,504 forks, 492 open issues and last shipped yesterday. E2B has 13,855 stars, 1,039 forks, 59 open issues and last shipped yesterday. langchain leads on adoption by 958% (146,538 vs 13,855 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 7%. 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 | ★ 147K | ★ 14K |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Python | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 25K | ⑂ 1.0K |
| 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 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
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 E2B
E2B is open source infrastructure that runs AI generated code in secure isolated cloud sandboxes. It lives in the AI development platform ecosystem for agents, and it provides JavaScript, TypeScript, and Python SDKs for starting and controlling those sandboxes.
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Frequently asked questions
Is langchain or E2B more popular?
langchain has 146,538 GitHub stars and E2B has 13,855. 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 (146,538 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose E2B if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.