head to head · open source
langchain vs openless
langchain has 146,562 GitHub stars, 24,508 forks, 492 open issues and last shipped today. openless has 3,570 stars, 328 forks, 36 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. langchain leads on adoption by 4,005% (146,562 vs 3,570 stars). langchain is written in Python under MIT; openless is written in Rust under AGPL-3.0. langchain has attracted 17% as many forks as stars, openless 9%. 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 | openless | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 147K | ★ 3.6K |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Python | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-16 |
| Forks | ⑂ 25K | ⑂ 328 |
| 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 openless if
- You want the openless feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You evaluated both and openless 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 openless
OpenLess Open source voice input for macOS, Windows & Linux Hold a hotkey, speak, and watch AI polished text stream straight to your cursor — in the writing style you choose. Website · Download · English / 中文 💬 Join our Discord · QQ Group 1078960553 Sponsors OpenLess is sustained by the generous support of its sponsors. 悠雾云数据 · Youwu Cloud Data (knin.net) Developers TRIP Author Chris233 Author / Maintainer bigsong Contributor / Tester HKLHaoBin Android author / Android Maintainer Cooper Contributor aeoform Contributor / Linux Maintainer jimmy54 macOS packaging & developer account OpenLess is a cross platform (ma…
read the full openless overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is langchain or openless more popular?
langchain has 146,562 GitHub stars and openless has 3,570. langchain has the larger community by that measure.
Are langchain and openless free?
Both are open source. langchain is licensed under MIT and openless under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between langchain and openless?
langchain is written in Python and openless in Rust. 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 openless?
Choose langchain if you want the larger community (146,562 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose openless if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.