We demonstrate the evolution of GaN films on novel langasite (LCS) substrate by plasma assisted molecular beam epitaxy, and assessed the quality of grown GaN film by comparing the experimental results obtained using LGS, sapphire and silicon (Si) substrates. To study the substrate effect, X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Raman spectroscopy and photoluminescence (PL) spectra were used to characterize the microstructure and stress states in GaN films. Wet etching of GaN films in KOH solution revealed that the films deposited on GaN/LGS, AlN/sapphire and AlN/Si substrates possess Ga-polarity, while the film deposited on GaN/sapphire possess N-polarity. XRD, Raman and PL analysis demonstrated that a compressive stress exist in the films grown on GaN/LGS, AlN/sapphire, and GaN/sapphire substrates, while a tensile stress appears on AlN/Si substrate. Comparative analysis showed the growth of nearly stress free GaN films on LGS substrate due to the very small lattice mismatch (similar to 3.2%) and thermal expansion coefficient difference (similar to 7.5%). The results presented here will hopefully provide a new framework for the further development of high performance III-nitride-related devices using GaN/LGS heteroepitaxy. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.