LangChain vs LlamaIndex — 2026
LangChain is broader (agents, tools, prompts, memory, eval). LlamaIndex is the deeper RAG / document-indexing toolkit. Most serious RAG builds use LlamaIndex for retrieval and LangChain for orchestration.
Pick LangChain if…
- Building AI agents with tool calling
- Need broad LLM ecosystem (OpenAI, Anthropic, local, etc.)
- Want LangGraph for stateful workflows
- Need LangSmith for observability + eval
Pick LlamaIndex if…
- RAG over complex document corpora
- Need advanced retrieval (hybrid search, reranking, query rewriting)
- Building knowledge graphs from docs
- Need LlamaParse for hardest PDFs
Pricing
LangChain
Open source. LangSmith adds $39/dev/mo for tracing.
LlamaIndex
Open source. LlamaCloud adds usage-based pricing for managed parsing/indexing.
Our verdict
Use LlamaIndex for retrieval, LangChain/LangGraph for agent orchestration. They compose cleanly.
FAQs
LangChain vs LlamaIndex — which is better?
Use LlamaIndex for retrieval, LangChain/LangGraph for agent orchestration. They compose cleanly.
When should I pick LangChain?
Building AI agents with tool calling. Need broad LLM ecosystem (OpenAI, Anthropic, local, etc.). Want LangGraph for stateful workflows. Need LangSmith for observability + eval.
When should I pick LlamaIndex?
RAG over complex document corpora. Need advanced retrieval (hybrid search, reranking, query rewriting). Building knowledge graphs from docs. Need LlamaParse for hardest PDFs.
How much does LangChain cost?
Open source. LangSmith adds $39/dev/mo for tracing.
How much does LlamaIndex cost?
Open source. LlamaCloud adds usage-based pricing for managed parsing/indexing.
Can I use both LangChain and LlamaIndex?
Often yes — we build hybrid setups all the time. Use LlamaIndex for retrieval, LangChain/LangGraph for agent orchestration. They compose cleanly.
Related comparisons
Want our honest take on a tool not listed here?
Free 30-minute strategy call. We'll tell you exactly what we'd build, what it'd cost, and whether AI is actually the right tool for the job.