Pick LangChain if
engineers building agents in Python or JS who will read traces when something breaks.
Read the LangChain pageLangChain vs LangSmith
Our take
Pick LangChain if engineers building agents in Python or JS who will read traces when something breaks. Pick LangSmith if engineers who already write agent code and will open traces when a run surprises them. Skip LangChain if no-code ops teams (Zapier / Make) or people who only want a visual canvas (Langflow / Dify).
LangSmith
LangChain’s hosted observability and eval
Best for
LangChain Engineers building agents in Python or JS who will read traces when something breaks
LangSmith See what an agent did, then score it
Free plan
LangChain $0 · langChain / LangGraph: no license fee. You pay model providers
LangSmith $0 · / seat / month. 1 seat. 5,000 base traces/month, then pay-as-you-go. 7 LSU Fleet allowance/month. Community support
Lowest paid
LangChain LangSmith Plus $39/mo
LangSmith Plus $39/mo
Coding agent
LangChain OSS libraries
LangSmith
Runs where
LangChain Hosted
LangSmith Hosted
Watch out
LangChain OSS is not a studio
LangSmith Traces after 5k / 10k bill in arrears
Last checked
LangChain 2026-10-19 · langchain.com/pricing
LangSmith 2026-10-22 · langchain.com/pricing
Which one, then?
Pick LangSmith if
engineers who already write agent code and will open traces when a run surprises them.
Read the LangSmith page