head to head · open source
langchain vs liteflow
langchain has 146,562 GitHub stars, 24,508 forks, 492 open issues and last shipped yesterday. liteflow has 3,860 stars, 526 forks, 64 open issues and last shipped 2 months ago. langchain leads on adoption by 3,697% (146,562 vs 3,860 stars). langchain is written in Python under MIT; liteflow is written in Java under Apache-2.0. langchain has attracted 17% as many forks as stars, liteflow 14%. langchain was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (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 | liteflow | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 147K | ★ 3.9K |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Python | Java |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-07-31 |
| Forks | ⑂ 25K | ⑂ 526 |
| 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 liteflow if
- You want the liteflow feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Java
- You evaluated both and liteflow 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 liteflow
LiteFlow is an Apache 2.0 licensed, Java based component rule engine that drives complex business orchestration from a small DSL rule file — and, since v2.16.0, treats an AI Agent as a first class citizen that can be orchestrated shoulder to shoulder with ordinary business nodes.
read the full liteflow overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is langchain or liteflow more popular?
langchain has 146,562 GitHub stars and liteflow has 3,860. langchain has the larger community by that measure.
Are langchain and liteflow free?
Both are open source. langchain is licensed under MIT and liteflow under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between langchain and liteflow?
langchain is written in Python and liteflow in Java. 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 liteflow?
Choose langchain if you want the larger community (146,562 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose liteflow if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.