Guidance vs Langflow
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted self-hosted ai options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
Guidance
Constrained generation language for controlling LLMs
VS
Langflow
Visual framework for building AI agents and RAG pipelines
| Feature | Guidance | Langflow |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Self-Hosted AI | Self-Hosted AI |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Language | Jupyter Notebook | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 8,192 MB | 2,048 MB |
| Deployment | source | docker, kubernetes, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 21,706 | ★ 152,941 |
| First released | 2023 | 2023 |
| Replaces | OpenAI API | Vertex AI Agent Builder |
Why pick each one
Choose Guidance if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Mature project with 21.7k GitHub stars
- Written in Jupyter Notebook
Choose Langflow if…
- Released under the MIT license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Kubernetes-ready with Helm charts available
- Mature project with 152.9k GitHub stars
Frequently asked questions
Is Guidance or Langflow better?
Neither is universally better. Langflow has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Guidance and Langflow free and open-source?
Yes. Guidance is licensed under MIT and Langflow under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Guidance and Langflow with Docker?
Guidance: check the project docs for container support. Langflow: yes.