LangChain vs Trigger.dev
The framework for building LLM apps — chains, agents, RAG, LangGraph
vs. Open-source background jobs with no timeouts and full observability
Pricing tiers
LangChain
OSS (MIT)
MIT-licensed core library. Free forever. Python + JS.
$0 base (usage-based)
LangSmith (see entry)
Observability layer — Developer free, Plus $39/seat. Separate platform.
$0 base (usage-based)
LangGraph Platform — Developer
Deploy LangGraph agents as an API. Free tier — limited execution minutes.
$0 base (usage-based)
LangGraph Platform — Plus
$39/seat/mo (tied to LangSmith Plus). More execution credit. Production features.
$39/mo
Enterprise
Custom. Self-host, dedicated support, SSO.
Custom
Trigger.dev
Free
$0. 5K runs/mo. 1 concurrent run. 1 team member. 7-day log retention.
Free
Self-Host (OSS)
Free. Apache-2.0 license. Docker Compose + Postgres + Redis.
$0 base (usage-based)
Hobby
$10/mo. 50K runs/mo. 25 concurrent. Unlimited queue time.
$10/mo
Pro
$50/mo (starts at — usage scales). 250K runs/mo baseline. 100 concurrent. Priority.
$50/mo
Enterprise
Custom. HIPAA, SSO, dedicated clusters, on-prem.
Custom
Free-tier quotas head-to-head
Comparing oss on LangChain vs free on Trigger.dev.
| Metric | LangChain | Trigger.dev |
|---|---|---|
| No overlapping quota metrics for these tiers. | ||
Features
LangChain · 18 features
- Agents — Tool-using agents with reasoning loops.
- Chains (LCEL) — LangChain Expression Language — pipe primitives into chains.
- Checkpointers (LangGraph) — Persist agent state to SQL, Mongo, Redis, Postgres.
- Document Loaders — 150+ loaders for PDF, HTML, Notion, Google Drive, S3, GitHub, etc.
- Human-in-the-loop — Pause agent for approval, then resume.
- LangGraph — Stateful graph-based agent runtime. Durable, replayable, human-in-the-loop.
- LangGraph Platform — Managed hosting for LangGraph agents with state persistence.
- LangGraph Studio — Desktop IDE for debugging agent graphs.
- LangServe — Deploy chains as FastAPI endpoints.
- Memory — Buffer, summary, entity, vector memory stores.
- Output Parsers — Structured JSON, Pydantic schemas, function calling.
- Prompt Templates — Templating + partial filling + output parsers.
- RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) — Standard patterns + 50+ retrievers.
- Streaming — First-class streaming at every layer.
- Subgraphs — Compose agent graphs hierarchically.
- Text Splitters — Recursive, token, semantic splitters for chunking.
- Tools — 400+ pre-built tools (web search, code, databases, APIs).
- Vector Store Integrations — 60+ vector DBs (Pinecone, Chroma, Weaviate, PGVector, Qdrant, Milvus).
Trigger.dev · 13 features
- Batch Trigger — Trigger many runs at once with limits.
- Environment Variables — Manage secrets in dashboard.
- Idempotency Keys — Prevent duplicate runs.
- Machine Sizing — Pick CPU/RAM per task.
- Queues + Concurrency — Named queues for controlled throughput.
- Realtime + React Hooks — Subscribe to run progress from client.
- Retries — Exponential + custom strategies.
- Schedules — Cron-triggered runs.
- Self-Hosting — Run locally or on your infra.
- Subtasks + triggerAndWait — Compose tasks by triggering children.
- Task Metadata — Attach arbitrary metadata to runs.
- Tasks — Define long-running TS tasks.
- wait.for / wait.until — Durable waits — minutes, hours, days.
Developer interfaces
| Kind | LangChain | Trigger.dev |
|---|---|---|
| CLI | — | trigger.dev CLI |
| SDK | @langchain/core (Node), langchain (Python), langgraph (JS), langgraph (Python), LangServe | @trigger.dev/react-hooks, @trigger.dev/sdk |
| REST | LangGraph Platform | Trigger.dev REST API |
| OTHER | — | Trigger.dev Dashboard, Trigger.dev Webhooks |
Staxly is an independent catalog of developer platforms. Outbound links to LangChain and Trigger.dev are plain references to their official websites. Pricing is verified against vendor pages at publication time — reconfirm before buying.
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