head to head · open source
langchain vs UltraRAG
langchain has 146,562 GitHub stars, 24,508 forks, 492 open issues and last shipped today. UltraRAG has 5,699 stars, 448 forks, 11 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. langchain leads on adoption by 2,472% (146,562 vs 5,699 stars). langchain is written in Python under MIT; UltraRAG is written in Python under Apache-2.0. langchain has attracted 17% as many forks as stars, UltraRAG 8%. 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 | UltraRAG | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 147K | ★ 5.7K |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Python | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-16 |
| Forks | ⑂ 25K | ⑂ 448 |
| 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 UltraRAG if
- You want the UltraRAG 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 UltraRAG 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 UltraRAG
UltraRAG is a low code Python framework that builds complex retrieval augmented generation pipelines by standardising RAG components as independent Model Context Protocol servers, aimed at researchers and teams doing industrial prototyping.
read the full UltraRAG overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is langchain or UltraRAG more popular?
langchain has 146,562 GitHub stars and UltraRAG has 5,699. langchain has the larger community by that measure.
Are langchain and UltraRAG free?
Both are open source. langchain is licensed under MIT and UltraRAG under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between langchain and UltraRAG?
langchain is written in Python and UltraRAG 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 UltraRAG?
Choose langchain if you want the larger community (146,562 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose UltraRAG if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.