head to head · open source
langchain vs graphrag
langchain has 146,538 GitHub stars, 24,504 forks, 492 open issues and last shipped yesterday. graphrag has 36,016 stars, 3,794 forks, 47 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. langchain leads on adoption by 307% (146,538 vs 36,016 stars). langchain is written in Python under MIT; graphrag is written in Python under MIT. langchain has attracted 17% as many forks as stars, graphrag 11%. 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 | graphrag | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 147K | ★ 36K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | Python | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-16 |
| Forks | ⑂ 25K | ⑂ 3.8K |
| 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 graphrag if
- You want the graphrag feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and graphrag 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 graphrag
GraphRAG is a modular, Python based, MIT licensed data pipeline and transformation suite from Microsoft Research that uses large language models to extract structured data from unstructured text, then exploits the resulting knowledge graph to form targeted context for question answering over private data.
read the full graphrag overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is langchain or graphrag more popular?
langchain has 146,538 GitHub stars and graphrag has 36,016. langchain has the larger community by that measure.
Are langchain and graphrag free?
Both are open source. langchain is licensed under MIT and graphrag under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between langchain and graphrag?
langchain is written in Python and graphrag 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 graphrag?
Choose langchain if you want the larger community (146,538 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose graphrag if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.