Langflow
Wire up AI agents and RAG pipelines on a visual canvas, then export the finished flow as a working API or MCP server. Free and self-hosted since DataStax's cloud tier closed.
The verdict on Langflow: Developers who want to build agent or RAG flows visually instead of writing orchestration code by hand Langflow lets developers wire up agents and RAG pipelines on a drag-and-drop canvas and then export the result as a working REST API or MCP server, skipping hand-written orchestration code. Pricing: Free and MIT licensed, self-hosted only (DataStax's hosted cloud shut down April 2026).
Best For
Developers who want to build agent or RAG flows visually instead of writing orchestration code by hand
Standout Feature
Finished flows export directly as a REST API or MCP server, ready to drop into another application
TL;DR
Genuinely free and open-source, self-hosting is now the only option since the hosted cloud tier shut down.
Alternatives
Fit Score: use-case reference
How this is scoredLangflow scored 1 to 5 on five dimensions for the named use cases below. Part of our catalog-wide use-case reference, not a product-quality review rating.
Building agent or RAG flows visually and exporting them as an API or MCP server
4.6/5- Capability
- 5/5
- Reliability
- 4/5
- Value
- 5/5
- Ease
- 4/5
- Compatibility
- 5/5
Finished Langflow flows export directly as a REST API or MCP server ready to drop into another application, and the tool is fully free since the hosted cloud tier was discontinued, with an MIT license and an active contributor base.
Teams wanting managed hosting without running their own infrastructure
2.4/5- Capability
- 2/5
- Reliability
- 3/5
- Value
- 3/5
- Ease
- 2/5
- Compatibility
- 2/5
No first-party managed hosting remains, so self-hosting is the only option, and production usage still costs LLM API tokens and infrastructure, per the tool's own cons.
Editorial judgment grounded in this tool's own published pricing, features, and our existing pros and cons, not a certification or a measured benchmark. Product quality is assessed separately under our review methodology.
Overview
Not yet reviewedProduct quality is assessed from original evidence. How reviews work.
Langflow puts a drag-and-drop canvas in front of agent and RAG development, connecting large language models, vector stores, memory, and tools into a working flow without hand-written orchestration code. Finished flows export directly as a REST API or a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server, so a prototype built visually can be dropped straight into another application. DataStax's hosted cloud version shut down in April 2026, so Langflow is now exclusively self-hosted, available via Docker, pip install, or a downloadable desktop app for local development.
With more than 150,000 GitHub stars and a large, active contributor base, it remains one of the most widely used open-source tools for visually assembling agents and retrieval pipelines. Because the software itself carries no license fee, the only ongoing costs are your own infrastructure and whatever LLM or vector database usage the flow consumes. Langflow fits developers and technical teams who want to prototype or ship agent workflows visually while keeping full control over where the flow runs.
The source of the legacy catalog rating and review count has not been substantiated. Neither is presented here as a verified review rating or included in review structured data.
Workflow Fit Scores are separate, use-case-specific editorial judgments, not user-review averages. Read the Fit Score methodology.
- • Fully free since the hosted cloud tier was discontinued
- • MIT licensed with an active, large contributor base
- • Exports directly to a usable API or MCP server
- • No first-party managed hosting anymore, self-hosting is the only option
- • Production usage still costs LLM API tokens and infrastructure
Key Features
- Drag-and-drop visual canvas
- Export flows as an API or MCP server
- Built-in RAG and vector store components
- Desktop app plus Docker/pip self-hosting
Trust & Data
Verified 2026-09
- Training on your data
- Not publishedLangflow is now part of DataStax; no product-specific privacy or security page was found on langflow.org, and the DataStax legal/trust pages checked rendered only general marketing content rather than a usable policy document.
- Compliance
- Not published
- Retention
- Not published
- Export
- Not published
Sources: langflow.org, datastax.com/privacy policy, datastax.com/trust
As published by the vendor. Verify independently before purchase decisions.
Our Take
That export step is its practical edge: you're not just prototyping visually, you're producing something deployable. It's MIT licensed and fully free. The important operational context is that DataStax's hosted cloud tier shut down in April 2026, so self-hosting is now the only path. That's fine for teams with infrastructure capacity and real savings for those who were paying for hosted tiers. For developers who want to build agent flows visually and can run their own infrastructure, this is a strong, cost-effective option.