head to head · open source
langchain vs Langfuse
langchain has 148,892 GitHub stars, 25,031 forks, 492 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Langfuse has 36,898 stars, 4,146 forks, 926 open issues and last shipped yesterday. langchain leads on adoption by 304% (148,892 vs 36,898 stars). langchain is written in Python under MIT; Langfuse is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence. langchain has attracted 17% as many forks as stars, Langfuse 11%. langchain was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (langchain), 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 | Langfuse | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 149K | ★ 37K |
| License | MIT | Custom / other |
| Written in | Python | TypeScript |
| 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 Langfuse if
- You want the Langfuse feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Langfuse 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 Langfuse
Langfuse Cloud · Self Host · Demo Docs · Report Bug · Feature Request · Changelog · Roadmap · Langfuse is an open source LLM engineering platform. It helps teams collaboratively develop, monitor, evaluate, and debug AI applications. Langfuse can be self hosted in minutes and is battle tested . Proudly made with ClickHouse open source database. 🧑💻 We're hiring Langfuse is growing fast (we doubled the team in the last 6 months) since January 2026 we're part of ClickHouse, we're hiring engineering hybrid across the EU. We hire engineers who love open source and great developer experiences. See open roles → ✨…
read the full Langfuse overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is langchain or Langfuse more popular?
langchain has 148,892 GitHub stars and Langfuse has 36,898. langchain has the larger community by that measure.
Are langchain and Langfuse free?
Both are open source. langchain is licensed under MIT, and Langfuse has no licence declared in this registry. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between langchain and Langfuse?
langchain is written in Python and Langfuse in TypeScript. 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 Langfuse?
Choose langchain if you want the larger community (148,892 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose Langfuse if its feature set, stack or Custom / other licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.