vioscale
Comparison

LangChain vs smolagents

On the evidence we track, LangChain leads this comparison with a composite score of 81/100. Scores are only directly comparable because these tools share a category; the full breakdown and every source is below.

LangChain full profile →smolagents full profile →
Machine formatsJSONMarkdownGraphQLor send Accept: application/json
★LangChain81
smolagents55
Score
Vioscale score
LangChain81 / 100medium · 70%
smolagents55 / 100low · 35%
Pricing
Free tier
LangChain✓
smolagents✓
Model
LangChainfreemium
smolagentscommercial
Price level
LangChainmid
smolagentsfree
Starting price
LangChain$39
smolagents–
Transparent
LangChain✓
smolagents✓
Integrations
Count
LangChain1,000
smolagents33
Security
Disclosure policy
LangChain✓
smolagents✓
Gdpr
LangChain✓
smolagents–
Hipaa
LangChain✓
smolagents–
Iso27001
LangChain✓
smolagents–
Scorecard
LangChain5.9
smolagents–
Soc2
LangChain✓
smolagents–
Vulnerabilities
Reliability
Sla pct
LangChain99.5
smolagents–
Status page
LangChain✓
smolagents–
Adoption
Dependent repos
LangChain18,663
smolagents0
Github stars
LangChain145,063
smolagents29,002
Package downloads weekly
LangChain2,967,570
smolagents–
Activity
Commits last 30d
LangChain100
smolagents2
Release
Cadence days
LangChain–
smolagents14
History
LangChain20 items
smolagents20 items
License
Spdx
LangChainMIT
smolagentsApache-2.0
Language
Primary
LangChainPython
smolagentsPython
Market
Availability
LangChainAvailable worldwide · HQ US
smolagents–

Capabilities

Feature-by-feature on the axes that matter for ai agent frameworks. “-” means undocumented, not absent.

Capabilities
Orchestration model
LangChainMulti agent sequential
smolagentsMulti agent hierarchical
Model provider agnostic
LangChain✓
smolagents✓
Tool function calling
LangChain✓
smolagents✓
Code execution sandbox
LangChain✓
smolagents✓
Memory architecture
LangChainPersistent
smolagentsSession
Mcp support
LangChain✓
smolagents-
A2a support
LangChain✓
smolagents-
Human in the loop
LangChain✓
smolagents-
Streaming output
LangChain✓
smolagents-
Structured output
LangChain-
smolagents-
Multi language SDK
LangChain✓
smolagents-
Deployment model
LangChainManaged platform
smolagentsLibrary self hosted
Open source
LangChain✓
smolagents✓
Pricing model
LangChainUsage based saas
smolagentsOpen source self host

What each one is

The product in its own terms, so the numbers below have context.

LangChain

Leader

LangSmith provides observability through tracing to debug agent behavior, evaluation capabilities to test and score agents with human review and automated assessments, and deployment services to run agents at scale.

Independently observed

smolagents

An open-source framework that enables you to create AI agents in just a few lines of code. It provides two agent types: CodeAgents that write actions as Python code, and ToolCallingAgents for JSON/text-based tool invocation. Supports any LLM provider and sandboxed code execution.

Independently observed

Pricing

List pricing as published by each vendor, with the date we read it. Always verify at the source before you buy.

LangChain

Leader
from $39/seat/moSubscriptionFree tier

Free Developer plan (5k traces). Plus plan $39/seat/month. Enterprise custom. Usage-based pricing for compute (LCU=$1.50) and storage (LSU=$1.00).

  • DeveloperFree
    • 1 free seat
    • 5k base traces/month
    • Tracing and analytics
    • Access to LangSmith platform
  • Plus$39/seat/month + usage (LCU/LSU), 10k traces included, 1 free small deployment
    • Unlimited seats
    • 10k base traces/month
    • 1 free small serverless deployment
    • Full tracing and analytics
    • Evaluation tools
  • EnterpriseContact sales
    • Advanced administration
    • Dedicated support
    • Custom deployments
    • White-glove onboarding
    • Proactive monitoring
    • +1 more
as of verify ↗

smolagents

Open sourceFree tier

Open source and free. Optional paid services (Hugging Face Spaces, Inference Endpoints) for hosting agents start from $0.

as of verify ↗

Platform & deployment

Where each product runs and how it can be hosted. A dash means undocumented, not unsupported.

Platforms
Web
LangChain✓
smolagents✓
CLI
LangChain✗
smolagents✓
Deployment
Cloud / SaaS
LangChain✓
smolagents✓
Self-hosted
LangChain✓
smolagents✓
Hybrid
LangChain✓
smolagents✓

Integrations

What each product connects to. Counts come from the vendor's own integration directory where one exists.

In common (2)
  • OpenAI
  • Anthropic

LangChain

Leader
9 total - 7 not shared
  • Cohere
  • Google
  • Azure OpenAI
  • Azure AI Search
  • Microsoft Fabric
  • Azure Kubernetes Service
  • OpaquePrompts
Independently observed

smolagents

10 total - 8 not shared
  • LiteLLM
  • Ollama
  • Transformers
  • DuckDuckGoSearchTool
  • Hugging Face Inference API
  • Together AI
  • Groq
  • PyCharm
Independently observed

Comparison generated from independently-sourced facts. Every value links to its source and retrieval date. See the method.