LLMFlows – LangChain alternative for explicit and transparent apps
Hi HN! Over the last several weekends, I've been building LLMFlows as an alternative to langchain. There's been a lot of discussion on the shortcomings of langchain in the past few weeks, but when I first tried it in March, I thought there are 3 main problems: 1. Too many abstractions 2. Hidden prompts and opinionated logic in chains which makes it hard to customize 3. Hard to debug This inspired me to try and build a framework that solves these 3 issues, and therefore I started building LLFlows with the "philosophy" of being "simple, explicit, and transparent." A few weekends later, I think…
LLMFlows – LangChain alternative for explicit and transparent apps launched on July 29, 2023 with 49 votes, #1,383 of 4,347 launches that month and more than 90% of that year's launches. The site was still online in September 2026, 3 years on.
In plain words
LLMFlows is a framework for building large language model applications that prioritizes simplicity, explicitness, and transparency. It addresses limitations in competing tools by minimizing abstractions, making prompts and logic visible rather than hidden, and improving debuggability. Designed for developers building LLM-powered applications, LLMFlows enables clearer control over how applications work and easier troubleshooting of issues.
written from the facts on this page · September 2026
From the sources
LLMFlows - Simple, Explicit and Transparent LLM Apps - stoyan-stoyanov/llmflows
In the maker’s words, at launch
Hi HN! Over the last several weekends, I've been building LLMFlows as an alternative to langchain. There's been a lot of discussion on the shortcomings of langchain in the past few weeks, but when I first tried it in March, I thought there are 3 main problems: 1. Too many abstractions 2. Hidden prompts and…
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Source: Show HN post ↗ · launch text quoted in part
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