Pyyan / Compare / LlamaIndex vs LightRAG
LlamaIndex vs LightRAG
2 of 5RAG & Knowledge Graphs · verified 13 Aug 2026
LlamaIndexLlamaIndexcurrentHLightRAGHKU Data Sciencecurrent
| Specification | LlamaIndex | LightRAG |
|---|---|---|
| Summary | The strongest option for document-centric retrieval. | Graph retrieval at a fraction of GraphRAG's cost. |
| Kind | Framework | Library |
| Graph | Yes, property graph index | Yes, core |
| Language | Python, TypeScript | Python |
| Licence | MIT | MIT |
| GitHub stars | ~45k | ~18k |
| Category | RAG & Knowledge Graphs | RAG & Knowledge Graphs |
| Official | LlamaIndex ↗ | HKU Data Science ↗ |
Highlighted rows are where these differ.
LlamaIndex
- Deep document handling and many indexing strategies
- The common advice is LlamaIndex for retrieval, LangGraph for orchestration
Best for PDFs, knowledge bases, structured data.
LightRAG
- Dual-level retrieval over a lighter graph
- Runs on CPU, which GraphRAG does not comfortably
Best for graph RAG on modest hardware.