head to head · open source
langchain vs neo
langchain has 146,562 GitHub stars, 24,508 forks, 492 open issues and last shipped yesterday. neo has 3,277 stars, 232 forks, 140 open issues and last shipped yesterday. langchain leads on adoption by 4,372% (146,562 vs 3,277 stars). langchain is written in Python under MIT; neo is written in JavaScript under MIT. langchain has attracted 17% as many forks as stars, neo 7%. neo was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (ai), 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 | neo | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 147K | ★ 3.3K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | Python | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 25K | ⑂ 232 |
| 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 neo if
- You want the neo feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and neo 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 neo
Neo.mjs is an MIT licensed, open source JavaScript application engine whose multi threaded runtime is designed to be inhabited by a cross model AI engineering swarm, built for teams that want AI agents working inside a live application rather than chatting beside it.
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Frequently asked questions
Is langchain or neo more popular?
langchain has 146,562 GitHub stars and neo has 3,277. langchain has the larger community by that measure.
Are langchain and neo free?
Both are open source. langchain is licensed under MIT and neo under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between langchain and neo?
langchain is written in Python and neo in JavaScript. 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 neo?
Choose langchain if you want the larger community (146,562 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose neo if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.