spaCy vs LMQL
A side-by-side look at pricing plans, free tiers, features, pros and cons, updated for 2026. spaCy starts at Free and LMQL starts at Free. Check both pricing pages for current plans.
At a glance
Best for
Category
Pricing model
Starting price
Free plan
Made by
Based in
Rating
Key features
- Named entity recognition
- Dependency parsing
- Pretrained pipelines for 25 languages
- Transformer-based training
- LLM integration via spacy-llm
- Syntax and NER visualizers
- Constrained generation
- Typed output variables
- Python integration
- Nested queries
- Online playground
| Feature | spaCy | LMQL |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Open-source Python library for production natural language processing | Programming language for prompting LLMs with types and constraints |
| Category | Models & APIs | Models & APIs |
| Pricing model | Free | Free |
| Starting price | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes, fully free | Yes, fully free |
| Made by | Explosion | SRI Lab, ETH Zurich |
| Based in | Germany | Switzerland |
| Rating | No ratings yet | No ratings yet |
| Key features |
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Pricing compared
spaCy starts at Free and LMQL starts at Free. Check both pricing pages for current plans.
Free plan
Cheapest paid plan
Top plan
Free trial
Prices in USD, checked Nov 5, 2026 or later. Plans change often, so confirm on each tool's site before you buy.
Pros and cons
spaCy
- Fast enough for very large text volumes
- Free and open source
- Mature plugin ecosystem
- Requires Python programming skills
- Pretrained pipelines cover only 25 languages
- Custom training needs labeled data
LMQL
- Free and open source
- Guarantees output formats
- Backed by academic research
- New syntax to learn
- Smaller community than mainstream frameworks
- Release pace has been slow
Which one should you choose?
Choose spaCy if you want:
- Fast enough for very large text volumes
- Free and open source
- Mature plugin ecosystem
Watch out: requires python programming skills.
Choose LMQL if you want:
- Free and open source
- Guarantees output formats
- Backed by academic research
Watch out: new syntax to learn.
spaCy vs LMQL FAQ
What is the difference between spaCy and LMQL?
spaCy: Open-source Python library for production natural language processing. LMQL: Programming language for prompting LLMs with types and constraints. Both are models & apis tools.
Is spaCy or LMQL cheaper?
spaCy starts at Free and LMQL starts at Free. Check both pricing pages for current plans.
Do spaCy and LMQL have free plans?
spaCy: Yes, fully free. LMQL: Yes, fully free.
Who makes spaCy?
spaCy is made by Explosion, based in Germany.
Who makes LMQL?
LMQL is made by SRI Lab, ETH Zurich, based in Switzerland.
Which should I choose, spaCy or LMQL?
Choose spaCy if you value fast enough for very large text volumes and free and open source. Choose LMQL if you value free and open source and guarantees output formats.