LangGraph vs Orq.ai (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, LangGraph and Orq.ai share a 2.6 GPA, both have a free plan, and LangGraph starts cheaper, at $39 a month for each person against about $39.10 a month for each person.
Checked Nov 13, 2026 · graded Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
LangGraph grades higher on the free plan and features. Orq.ai grades higher on value for money and ease of use. They get the same grade on platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
LangGraph
Open-source framework for building controllable AI agents
Orq.ai
AI gateway with observability, governance and managed agents
Which one is for you
Pick LangGraph if
- Fits if you write Python or JavaScript and want control over each agent step
- Works for teams that already use LangChain or LangSmith
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if you want a visual builder, because the framework itself has none
- Pricey if you deploy on LangChain's servers, which needs Plus at $39 a seat a month
- Watch out: traces, Agent Server compute and sandboxes are metered in LSUs at $1 each past the allowances
- Tight if you need history, since base traces are kept 14 days and 180-day traces cost extra
Pick Orq.ai if
- Fits if you want one endpoint and one bill across several model providers
- Works for developers who need request logs and budgets before they pay for anything
Look elsewhere if
- Watch out: using Orq.ai's own keys adds a 4.5% platform fee on model traffic
- Pricey if you outgrow the caps: €7 per 100k spans, €3 per GB and €35 per extra seat
- Tight if you need SSO or roles, which are a €300 a month Teams add-on
- Skip it if you want no-code, since you integrate it through an API
- Watch out: pay-as-you-go keeps data for 30 days and limits you to 100 requests a minute
How we grade them
| 2.6GPALangGraphGood | 2.6GPAOrq.aiGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CThe library is free, but deploying on LangChain's infrastructure needs LangSmith Plus at $39 a seat, above the category's middle of $25, with usage billed in LSUs. | BPay-as-you-go carries no platform fee, though extra seats are €35 each and usage is billed past the included amounts. Prices are in euros. |
| Free plan and trial | AFree outright: the MIT library has no cap, and LangSmith Developer is $0 for one seat with 5k traces a month. | B10 seats, 100k spans, 5 GB and 500 agent runs a month are included, with 30-day retention and 100 requests a minute. Enough for one developer, tight for a product. |
| Features | BSingle and multi-agent control, human approval, persistent memory, streaming and an Agent Server for deployment. The framework has no visual builder. | CGateway, MCP gateway, observability, agents and guardrails. SSO and fine-grained roles cost €300 a month extra on the self-serve plan. |
| Ease of use | DYou write code and run it yourself, or deploy an Agent Server. We found no store rating. | CNo store rating on record. It is a developer service: you wire in API keys and point your code at the endpoint. |
| Platforms and integrations | BA code library with LangChain, LangSmith and MCP connections, plus hosted, hybrid or self-hosted deployment. No desktop or phone app. | BWeb console and an API, with OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Mistral, Claude Code, Cursor, Codex and Okta listed. No desktop or phone app. |
| Best for | building controllable AI agents in code | one gateway for many AI models |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: LangGraph and Orq.ai. How we grade
Price against what you get
LangGraph starts at $39 a month for each person and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Orq.ai starts at about $39.10 a month for each person and scores 2.3.
They score the same, and LangGraph starts $0.10 a month lower. Of the other AI agents on the chart, 29 score higher than LangGraph for less, and 29 score higher than Orq.ai for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- LangGraph is open source and self-hostable, according to its own site.
- LangGraph also covers workflow automation.
- Orq.ai also covers reports.
At a glance
| LangGraph | Orq.ai | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $39 per seat / month, billed monthly | €35 per extra seat / month beyond the 10 included, plus usage |
| Free plan | The LangGraph library is MIT-licensed and free. LangSmith Developer is $0 for 1 seat with 5k base traces a month. | Pay-as-you-go has no platform fee: 10 AI Studio seats, 100k spans, 5 GB processed data and 500 agent runs a month included. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | LangChain | Orq.ai |
| Price read from | langchain.com | orq.ai |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Nov 13, 2026 |
Worth knowing
LangGraph
- The library is code only; there is no visual builder in the framework itself.
- Deploying on LangChain's infrastructure needs LangSmith Plus ($39 per seat / month) or Enterprise; the Developer plan has no Agent Server.
- Beyond the included allowances, traces, Agent Server compute and sandboxes are metered in LangSmith units (1 LSU = $1).
- Base traces are kept 14 days; 180-day extended traces cost extra.
Orq.ai
- Prices are shown in euros. Model traffic is billed at provider rates, and the platform adds a 4.5% fee when you use Orq.ai's keys.
- Beyond the included amounts: €7 per 100k spans, €3 per GB processed, €0.01 per agent run with tools, €35 per AI Studio seat.
- SSO, SAML or OIDC and fine-grained RBAC are a €300 a month Teams add-on, and included on Enterprise.
- Pay-as-you-go keeps data for 30 days with a 100 requests per minute rate limit.
Key features
LangGraph
- Graph-based agent control
- Low-level primitives for single-agent, multi-agent and hierarchical control flows in one framework.
- Human-in-the-loop
- Approval and moderation checks can be added so a person can steer or approve agent actions.
- Persistent memory
- Built-in memory stores conversation history and keeps context across sessions.
- Streaming
- Native token-by-token streaming exposes the agent's reasoning and actions as they happen.
- Agent Server deployment
- LangSmith Agent Server hosts agents in the cloud, in a hybrid setup, or fully self-hosted, with cron scheduling, an Assistants API and Studio.
Orq.ai
- AI Gateway
- One OpenAI- and Anthropic-compatible API for 500+ models from 30+ providers, with fallbacks, retries, caching and load balancing.
- MCP Gateway
- Routes calls to remote MCP servers under the same policies as model traffic, and traces each tool call.
- Observability
- Every request becomes a trace with cost, tokens, latency and payloads, with OpenTelemetry ingestion and alerts.
- Managed agents
- An agent runtime with sub-agents, tools, knowledge bases, memory stores, prompt management, evaluators and scheduled runs.
- Governance and guardrails
- Budgets, PII redaction, guardrail rules and model restrictions, with audit logs, EU hosting and EU AI Act tooling on the higher tier.
Plans
LangGraph
LangGraph (open source)$0
MIT-licensed library you run yourself; the vendor says it is free to use.
LangSmith Developer$0
per seat / month, then pay as you go
1 seat, 5k base traces a month, community support. No Agent Server.
LangSmith Plus$39
per seat / month, billed monthly, then pay as you go
Unlimited seats, 10k base traces a month and 1 small serverless Agent Server included; extra servers and usage are billed in LSUs.
LangSmith EnterpriseCustom
Cloud, hybrid or self-hosted deployment, custom SSO, RBAC, support SLA and custom seats.
Orq.ai
Pay-as-you-go€0
Unlimited requests with your own provider keys; 4.5% fee on credits when using Orq.ai's keys. Extra spans, data, seats and agent runs are metered.
EnterpriseCustom
Adds AI governance, audit logs, on-prem and VPC options, SOC 2 report, custom DPA, uptime SLA and Slack or Teams support.
Ways to pay less
LangGraph
- Startups
LangSmith for Startups
Discounted rates and credits of up to $10,000 for VC-backed startups, by application.
Orq.ai
- Startups
Startup, academic, NGO and open-source discounts
The pay-as-you-go plan notes discounts for startups, academic users, NGOs and open-source projects; terms are not shown on the page.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, LangGraph or Orq.ai?
As of Nov 13, 2026, LangGraph is cheaper to start with: $39 a month for each person, against about $39.10 a month for each person for Orq.ai. LangGraph starts at $39 per seat / month, billed monthly, and Orq.ai starts at €35 per extra seat / month beyond the 10 included, plus usage.
Which has a free plan, LangGraph or Orq.ai?
As of Nov 13, 2026, both LangGraph and Orq.ai have a free plan.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.