head to head · open source
Langflow vs Hercules
Langflow has 156,239 GitHub stars, 10,307 forks, 1,056 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Hercules has 1,210 stars, 202 forks, 39 open issues and last shipped 5 days ago. Langflow leads on adoption by 12,812% (156,239 vs 1,210 stars). Langflow is written in Python under MIT; Hercules is written in Python under AGPL-3.0. Langflow has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, Hercules 17%. Langflow was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (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
| Langflow | Hercules | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 156K | ★ 1.2K |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Python | Python |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-10-29 |
| Forks | ⑂ 10K | ⑂ 202 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Langflow if
- You weight community size — 156K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Hercules if
- You want the Hercules feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and Hercules fits your workflow better
About Langflow
Langflow is a powerful platform for building and deploying AI powered agents and workflows. It provides developers with both a visual authoring experience and built in API and MCP servers that turn every workflow into a tool that can be integrated into applications built on any framework or stack. Langflow comes with batteries included and supports all major LLMs, vector databases and a growing library of AI tools. ✨ Highlight features Visual builder interface to quickly get started and iterate. Source code access lets you customize any component using Python. Interactive playground to immediately test and…
read the full Langflow overview →
About Hercules
💪 Hercules Testing modern web applications can be difficult, with frequent changes and complex features making it hard to keep up. That's where Hercules comes in. Hercules is the world's first open source testing agent, built to handle the toughest testing tasks so you don't have to. It turns simple, easy to write Gherkin steps into fully automated end to end tests—no coding skills needed. Whether you're working with tricky enterprise platforms or running tests in your CI/CD pipeline, Hercules adapts to your needs and takes care of the details. With Hercules, testing becomes simple, reliable, and efficient…
read the full Hercules overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Langflow or Hercules more popular?
Langflow has 156,239 GitHub stars and Hercules has 1,210. Langflow has the larger community by that measure.
Are Langflow and Hercules free?
Both are open source. Langflow is licensed under MIT and Hercules under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Langflow and Hercules?
Langflow is written in Python and Hercules 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, Langflow or Hercules?
Choose Langflow if you want the larger community (156,239 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose Hercules if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.