Differences between Langchain and LlamaIndex and their use cases
What are the differences between Langchain and LlamaIndex and what are their use cases? In this article, we’ll explore these differences, helping you choose the most suitable library for your needs.
What is Langchain?
As the documentation outlines,
LangChain is a framework for developing applications powered by language models.
Langchain is a framework that enables developers to build solutions powered by language models.
Some use-case examples include:
- Retrieval-augmented generation (RAG)
- Interacting with APIs
- Chatbots
- Extraction
- Summarization
- Data Generation
The main value additions from Langchain include:
- Components: modular tooling that is easy-to-use whether or not you’re using the rest of Langchain’s framework
- Off-the-shelf-chains: components assembled together to accomplish a higher-level task
In addition, Langchain has made strides to streamline hosting and deploying chains with tools like LangSmith and LangServe.
What is LlamaIndex?
LlamaIndex is a data framework specifically designed for language model solutions, focusing on data ingestion and querying. Its primary aim is to streamline the retrieval of necessary information, providing the language model with sufficient context to deliver the desired results.
At its core, the data framework provides a set of tooling that streamlines data retrieval:
- Data connectors: ingesting data from existing data stores
- Data indexes: transform the data for the LLMs to easily consume
- Engines: a purposed method for interacting with data: chat engine, query engines for RAG, etc.
- Data Agents: LLM-powered workers that work with tools to access domain data
Which should I use?
Choosing between the two isn’t necessarily an either/or decision, as LlamaIndex can integrate with Langchain. You can’t go wrong leveraging Langchain and using LlamaIndex for the RAG-specific scenarios since it’s optimized for it.
If you prefer a more streamlined RAG solution without the additional features of Langchain, LlamaIndex is an excellent standalone choice.