DSPy alternatives (2026)

DSPy is a frameworks tool: Stanford framework for programming rather than prompting language models, with optimizers that tune prompts and weights for RAG pipelines and agent loops. Pricing, as the maker states it: Open source. Its GitHub repo has 38,676 stars. We found 127 tools in the directory that do overlapping work (writing code, building AI agents, working with documents); 122 of them are open source and 1 list a free or freemium plan. Below are the 10 closest, ranked by how many tasks and sub-tasks they share with DSPy, then by GitHub stars.

1. UltraRAG (Open source): Low-code MCP-based framework from OpenBMB for building and debugging complex RAG pipelines with visible reasoning logic. Consider it because it does the same job with a different approach (open source).
2. LlamaIndex (Open source + cloud): Framework for agents over your data (RAG, document agents). Consider it because it has more GitHub stars (52,485 vs 38,676).
3. AstrBot (Open source): Open-source agent chatbot platform and framework that connects LLMs, plugins and tools to mainstream messaging apps for assistants, support bots and knowledge bases. Consider it because it has more GitHub stars (42,095 vs 38,676).
4. Haystack (Open source + cloud): Open-source orchestration framework for building production LLM apps, RAG and agents. Consider it because it also covers multi-agent orchestration.
5. llmware (Open source): Framework for building private, local RAG and agent applications with small specialized models on AI PCs, edge and self-hosted setups. Consider it because it also covers local and self-hosted.
6. Langchain.rb (Open source): Ruby library for building LLM-powered applications, RAG and assistants. Consider it because it does the same job with a different approach (open source).
7. BaseAI (See site): Web AI framework from Langbase for building AI agents with memory (RAG) and deploying them serverless. Consider it because it also covers memory.
8. Mastra (Open source): TypeScript framework for agents, workflows and RAG. Consider it because it also covers workflow automation.
9. txtai (Open source): All-in-one Python framework for semantic search, LLM orchestration and agents built on an embeddings database of vector, graph and relational indexes. Consider it because it also covers SQL and databases and multi-agent orchestration.
10. Neuron AI (Open source): PHP framework for creating and orchestrating AI agents with LLMs, tools, vector stores and memory. Consider it because it also covers memory and multi-agent orchestration.

DSPy vs alternatives at a glance

More: DSPy listing · All frameworks tools · All alternatives pages

Related searches: Free AI document and RAG tools

Alternatives are picked from directory data only: same category plus shared tasks and sub-tasks. Pricing is as each maker states it; GitHub stars as recorded on each listing.