CopilotKit vs LangGraph
Which should you use? A side-by-side look at what each one does, who it suits, what it costs, how hard it is to set up, and where each falls short.
Open source · MIT
A TypeScript toolkit for building chat and generative UI on top of AI agents in web, mobile, and chat apps.
Open source · MIT
A Python framework for building long-running agents that keep state and can resume after failures.
The short answer
Choose CopilotKit if you need…
- Developers adding an AI assistant or agent interface to a React or Next.js app
- Teams who want one agent backend to serve a web app, a mobile app, and Slack or Teams
- Projects that need agents to ask users for confirmation or edits before continuing
- Developers building chat interfaces that render custom UI components from tool calls
Choose LangGraph if you need…
- Python developers building multi-step AI agents that must survive failures or long waits
- Teams that want fine-grained control over agent state and execution flow
- Projects that need a human to review or edit an agent's state partway through a run
- Developers who want a lower-level base instead of a higher-level agent package
Side-by-side
| CopilotKit | LangGraph | |
|---|---|---|
| Type | Library | Library |
| Price | Free and open source | Free and open source |
| Licence | MIT | MIT |
| GitHub stars | 38.5k | 44.3k |
| Setup difficulty | Intermediate | Intermediate |
| How you get it | Install with a package manager | Install with a package manager |
| Main language | TypeScript | Python |
| Last code update | 4 days ago | 4 days ago |
What each one is
CopilotKit
CopilotKit is an SDK for building applications where AI agents interact with users through a interface. It provides pieces such as a chat UI, shared state between agents and components, generative UI that agents can render at runtime, and human-in-the-loop prompts that pause an agent for user input. The README says the same agent can be served to React, Angular, Vue, React Native, and Slack or Microsoft Teams. The project is maintained by the company behind the AG-UI Protocol.
LangGraph
LangGraph is a low-level framework for building workflows and AI agents that keep track of their state over time. It is designed for tasks that run for a long stretch, can pause for human review, and need to pick up where they left off after an interruption. It is produced by LangChain Inc, but the README says it can be used without LangChain.
Best for
CopilotKit
- Developers adding an AI assistant or agent interface to a React or Next.js app
- Teams who want one agent backend to serve a web app, a mobile app, and Slack or Teams
- Projects that need agents to ask users for confirmation or edits before continuing
- Developers building chat interfaces that render custom UI components from tool calls
LangGraph
- Python developers building multi-step AI agents that must survive failures or long waits
- Teams that want fine-grained control over agent state and execution flow
- Projects that need a human to review or edit an agent's state partway through a run
- Developers who want a lower-level base instead of a higher-level agent package
Strengths
CopilotKit
- Covers several frontends (React, Angular, Vue, React Native) and chat channels from one agent backend, per the README
- Built on the AG-UI Protocol, which the README says is adopted by several large framework vendors
- Permissive MIT license with an active repository and a large star count
LangGraph
- Built-in durable execution that resumes workflows from where they stopped, per the README
- Supports human-in-the-loop checkpoints and both short-term and long-term memory
- Open source under the MIT license with extensive documentation and a free course
Not ideal for
CopilotKit
- Non-developers looking for a ready-made app; the README targets people writing code
- Projects that do not use JavaScript or TypeScript frontends, since the listed frameworks are JS-based
- Teams who want a fully self-contained product without integrating an agent framework of their own
LangGraph
- Beginners who just want a ready-made agent: the README points to Deep Agents, a higher-level package built on LangGraph, for quicker starts
- Non-programmers, since it is a Python library that requires writing code
- JavaScript/TypeScript-only teams, who are pointed to the separate LangGraph.js project
Trade-offs
CopilotKit
- The README is partly a marketing overview; several features (Channels for Discord/WhatsApp, Vue quickstart) are listed as coming soon or only partly supported
- Some advanced features (rich threads, memories, analytics) belong to a separate hosted or self-hosted product called CopilotKit Intelligence, which may have its own plans
- Setup depends on your agent framework and frontend stack, so the learning curve is non-trivial
LangGraph
- It is a low-level framework, so it has a steeper learning curve than higher-level tools
- Several of the most useful features (debugging, deployment) point to LangSmith, a separate product
- The README is truncated and does not show full API details, so the depth of specific features is hard to verify from it alone
Getting started
CopilotKit
Set up with your coding agent (run from your project root)
npx --yes copilotkit@latest onboard startInstall agent skills for your coding agent
npx copilotkit@latest skills installFrequently asked questions
What is the difference between CopilotKit and LangGraph?
CopilotKit: A TypeScript toolkit for building chat and generative UI on top of AI agents in web, mobile, and chat apps. LangGraph: A Python framework for building long-running agents that keep state and can resume after failures. CopilotKit suits developers adding an ai assistant or agent interface to a react or next.js app, while LangGraph suits python developers building multi-step ai agents that must survive failures or long waits.
Are CopilotKit and LangGraph free?
CopilotKit: Free and open source. LangGraph: Free and open source.
Is CopilotKit or LangGraph more popular?
LangGraph has more GitHub stars (44.3k) than CopilotKit (38.5k). Popularity isn't the same as fit — check which one matches your use case above.
What are other alternatives to CopilotKit and LangGraph?
Other options people compare them with include assistant-ui, Tambo, PageIndex, OpenAI Agents SDK, Page Agent.
Keep comparing
Built from our catalogue entries for both products: open-source details come from each project's README (AI-assisted, refreshed weekly) and GitHub data; AI-tool details are editorial. Spotted something wrong? Let us know from either product's page.