Pick LangChain if
engineers building agents in Python or JS who will read traces when something breaks.
Read the LangChain pageLangChain vs LlamaIndex
Our take
Pick LangChain if engineers building agents in Python or JS who will read traces when something breaks. Pick LlamaIndex if builders wiring RAG or document extraction who will use the MIT library and/or LlamaParse credits. Skip LangChain if no-code ops teams (Zapier / Make) or people who only want a visual canvas (Langflow / Dify). Skip LlamaIndex if people who only want a visual agent canvas (Langflow) or traces
Best for
LangChain Engineers building agents in Python or JS who will read traces when something breaks
LlamaIndex Connect an LLM to your documents
Free plan
LangChain $0 · langChain / LangGraph: no license fee. You pay model providers
LlamaIndex $0 · mIT. You bring the model
Lowest paid
LangChain LangSmith Plus $39/mo
LlamaIndex Credit rate $1.25
Next step up
LangChain
LlamaIndex Starter $50/mo
Coding agent
LangChain OSS libraries
LlamaIndex Agents builder
Runs where
LangChain Hosted
LlamaIndex Local or hosted
Watch out
LangChain OSS is not a studio
LlamaIndex LlamaParse is not MIT
Last checked
LangChain 2026-10-19 · langchain.com/pricing
LlamaIndex 2026-10-19 · llamaindex.ai/pricing
Which one, then?
Pick LlamaIndex if
builders wiring RAG or document extraction who will use the MIT library and/or LlamaParse credits.
Read the LlamaIndex page