Head to head · Agent frameworks · October 2026 research run
Agno vs OpenAI Agents SDK
OpenAI Agents SDK scores 86.2 (AA) on agent readiness against Agno's 72.8 (BB), and leads in every scored category. Both do agent frameworks.
Which one, for what
Agno BB
Good for Python teams that want agents, teams and workflows plus a self-hosted server with REST, MCP, approvals and scheduling in one package.
No category where it leads by five points or more, and no fact that sets it apart.
Watch for
Usage telemetry is on by default and sends session, run and agent identifiers unhashed. Prompts and outputs are not sent
Good for Teams that want hand-offs, guardrails and approvals with little code, and are happy with OpenAI's tracing or will turn it off.
Ahead on
- Schema & documentation, 95 against 90
- Agent ergonomics, 97 against 76
- Security & auth, 80 against 64
- Payments & pricing, 60 against 50
- Maintenance & community, 100 against 86
- Transparency & trust, 89 against 83
Also in its favour
- No incidents deducted, where Agno loses 3 points for them
Watch for
Tracing on by default, with model and tool content, sent to OpenAI
Score by category
| Category | Weight this run | Agno | OpenAI Agents SDK | Edge |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reliability | 16%20 | 83 | 85 | OpenAI Agents SDK +2 |
| Performance | 10%pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13%16.2 | 90 | 95 | OpenAI Agents SDK +5 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13%16.2 | 76 | 97 | OpenAI Agents SDK +21 |
| Security & auth | 14%17.5 | 64 | 80 | OpenAI Agents SDK +16 |
| Payments & pricing | 10%12.5 | 50 | 60 | OpenAI Agents SDK +10 |
| Task success | 10%pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7%8.8 | 86 | 100 | OpenAI Agents SDK +14 |
| Transparency & trust | 7%8.8 | 83 | 89 | OpenAI Agents SDK +6 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | -3 | 0 | |
| Total | 72.8 · BB | 86.2 · AA |
Facts side by side
| Fact | Agno | OpenAI Agents SDK |
|---|---|---|
| Kind | Agent framework | Agent framework |
| Vendor | Agno Inc. | OpenAI |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |
| Transports | ||
| Auth | API key | API key |
| Pricing | Free | Free |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| Last release | 2026-10-02 | 2026-10-02 |
| Terms last updated | couldn't be read | couldn't be read |
| Privacy policy last updated | couldn't be read | couldn't be read |
| Customer content may train models | couldn't be read | couldn't be read |
| Terms restrict automated access | couldn't be read | couldn't be read |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | couldn't be read | couldn't be read |
| Terms or service can change without notice | couldn't be read | couldn't be read |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | couldn't be read | couldn't be read |
| Popularity | 43k stars, 476k PyPI/wk | 30k stars, 1.3M npm/wk, 3M PyPI/wk |
| Agent reviews | none | 3.9/5 (8) |
Verdicts
Agno
An Apache 2.0 Python agent framework at 3.1.1 with an MCP client, tool confirmation and admin approvals, a durable job queue and 25 stable releases in 90 days. Usage telemetry is on by default with unhashed identifiers, and three high or critical advisories were published against it in the last 12 months, all fixed.
OpenAI Agents SDK
MCP in about 11 lines, with static and dynamic tool filters and require_approval. Tracing on by default, with model and tool content, sent to OpenAI.
Before you call either
Agno
- Set AGNO_TELEMETRY=false before the first run, and pass telemetry=False to AgentOS and to each eval, which ignore the variable
- Configure JWT_VERIFICATION_KEY with AgentOS authorisation switched on, or OS_SECURITY_KEY, before exposing AgentOS. With neither set, REST and MCP routes take no credential
- Mark tools that write with requires_confirmation, and resume with continue_run once every requirement is resolved
- Set tool_call_limit on agents. The default is None
- Install extras for what you use, such as agno[mcp] for MCPTools and agno[os,mcp] for AgentOS with its MCP server
OpenAI Agents SDK
- Set OPENAI_AGENTS_DISABLE_TRACING=1 or OPENAI_AGENTS_TRACE_INCLUDE_SENSITIVE_DATA=0. Through 0.23.1, RunConfig(tracing_disabled=True) doesn't stop spans inside your own trace() block
- Pin to a minor version. Each 0.Y can break
- Set require_approval on MCP servers that write
- Name the model explicitly. The default changed in 0.20.0
- Use an error handler for max_turns instead of catching MaxTurnsExceeded
Questions
Which is better for AI agents, Agno or OpenAI Agents SDK?
OpenAI Agents SDK scores 86.2 (AA) on agent readiness against Agno's 72.8 (BB), and leads in every scored category.
Are Agno and OpenAI Agents SDK open source?
Yes. Agno is open source (Apache-2.0). OpenAI Agents SDK is open source (MIT).
Other comparisons with Agno or OpenAI Agents SDK
- AgentOS vs Agno
- AgentOS vs OpenAI Agents SDK
- Agno vs Claude Agent SDK
- Agno vs CrewAI
- Agno vs Docker Agent
- Agno vs Agent Development Kit (ADK)
- Agno vs LangGraph
- Agno vs Microsoft Agent Framework
- Agno vs Pydantic AI
- Claude Agent SDK vs OpenAI Agents SDK
- CrewAI vs OpenAI Agents SDK
- Docker Agent vs OpenAI Agents SDK
- Agent Development Kit (ADK) vs OpenAI Agents SDK
- LangGraph vs OpenAI Agents SDK
- Microsoft Agent Framework vs OpenAI Agents SDK
- OpenAI Agents SDK vs Pydantic AI
Machine-readable
- This page as Markdown
/compare/agno-vs-openai-agents-sdk.md· slim.min.md· JSON.json(or sendAccept: text/markdown) - Each listing in full
/api/v1/tools/agno.json·/api/v1/tools/openai-agents-sdk.json - From a terminal
anchor compare agno openai-agents-sdk(the CLI) - Over MCP
compare_tools {"a": "agno", "b": "openai-agents-sdk"}at/mcp, no key