head to head · open source
langchain vs holmesgpt
langchain has 148,892 GitHub stars, 25,031 forks, 492 open issues and last shipped yesterday. holmesgpt has 3,756 stars, 566 forks, 432 open issues and last shipped yesterday. langchain leads on adoption by 3,864% (148,892 vs 3,756 stars). langchain is written in Python under MIT; holmesgpt is written in Python under Apache-2.0. langchain has attracted 17% as many forks as stars, holmesgpt 15%. 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 | holmesgpt | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 149K | ★ 3.8K |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Python | Python |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 25K | ⑂ 566 |
| 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 holmesgpt if
- You want the holmesgpt 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 holmesgpt 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 holmesgpt
HolmesGPT — The CNCF SRE Agent Installation Docs Open source AI agent for investigating production incidents and finding root causes. Works with any stack — Kubernetes, VMs, cloud providers, databases, and SaaS platforms. We are a Cloud Native Computing Foundation sandbox project. Originally created by Robusta.Dev, with major contributions from Microsoft. New: Operator Mode — Find Problems 24/7 in the Background Most AI agents are great at troubleshooting problems, but still need a human to notice something is wrong and trigger an investigation. Operator mode fixes that — HolmesGPT runs in the background 24/7…
read the full holmesgpt overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is langchain or holmesgpt more popular?
langchain has 148,892 GitHub stars and holmesgpt has 3,756. langchain has the larger community by that measure.
Are langchain and holmesgpt free?
Both are open source. langchain is licensed under MIT and holmesgpt under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between langchain and holmesgpt?
langchain is written in Python and holmesgpt 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 holmesgpt?
Choose langchain if you want the larger community (148,892 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose holmesgpt if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.