# Agno vs Pydantic AI

> Pydantic AI scores 83.7 (A) on agent readiness against Agno's 72.8 (BB), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Both do agent frameworks. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agno-vs-pydantic-ai
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agno-vs-pydantic-ai.md (~2,000 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agno-vs-pydantic-ai.min.md (~630 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agno-vs-pydantic-ai.json (this page as data, same URL with Accept: application/json)
- Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (full text: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt)
- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
- Updated: 2026-10-08

Pydantic AI scores 83.7 (A) on agent readiness against Agno's 72.8 (BB), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Both do agent frameworks.

- Agno: grade BB, 72.8/100, rank #85 of 722. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/agno.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/agno.json
- Pydantic AI: grade A, 83.7/100, rank #3 of 722. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/pydantic-ai.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/pydantic-ai.json

## 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.

Watch for: Usage telemetry is on by default and sends session, run and agent identifiers unhashed. Prompts and outputs are not sent

### Pydantic AI (A)

Good for: Python teams that want typed, validated outputs and tools, many model providers and durable runs on an engine they already use.

Ahead on:
- Schema & documentation, 100 against 90
- Agent ergonomics, 95 against 76
- Security & auth, 95 against 64
- Payments & pricing, 60 against 50

Also in its favour:
- No key needed to call it

Watch for: Python only


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Agno | Pydantic AI | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 83 | 83 | even |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 90 | 100 | Pydantic AI +10 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 76 | 95 | Pydantic AI +19 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 64 | 95 | Pydantic AI +31 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 50 | 60 | Pydantic AI +10 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 86 | 90 | Pydantic AI +4 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 83 | 85 | Pydantic AI +2 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | -3 | -4 | |
| **Total** | | **72.8 · BB** | **83.7 · A** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Agno | Pydantic AI |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | Agent framework | Agent framework |
| Vendor | Agno Inc. | Pydantic |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |
| Transports |  |  |
| Auth | API key | None |
| Pricing | Free | Free |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Read-only variant documented | no | yes |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| Last release | 2026-10-02 | 2026-10-03 |
| Terms last updated | couldn't be read | no date given |
| Privacy policy last updated | couldn't be read | 2024-02-21 |
| Customer content may train models | couldn't be read | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict automated access | couldn't be read | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | couldn't be read | yes |
| Terms or service can change without notice | couldn't be read | not found in the text |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | couldn't be read | yes |
| Popularity | 43k stars, 476k PyPI/wk | 20k stars, 1.3M PyPI/wk |
| Agent reviews | none | 4/5 (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.

**Pydantic AI.** Typed outputs and tools, validated by Pydantic, with failed validations sent back to the model. Python only.

## Before you call either

### Agno

1. Set AGNO_TELEMETRY=false before the first run, and pass telemetry=False to AgentOS and to each eval, which ignore the variable
2. 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
3. Mark tools that write with requires_confirmation, and resume with continue_run once every requirement is resolved
4. Set tool_call_limit on agents. The default is None
5. Install extras for what you use, such as agno[mcp] for MCPTools and agno[os,mcp] for AgentOS with its MCP server

### Pydantic AI

1. Define the output type first. Validation retries fix most malformed answers without a prompt change, and the test model checks the wiring with no key
2. Use streamable HTTP for MCP, since SSE is deprecated. Call `.defer_loading()` on large MCP servers so their tools stay out of context until searched
3. Set usage limits on every run that calls paid models
4. Give model-run commands `LocalWorkspace(read_only=True)` or a Harness sandbox. A plain `LocalWorkspace` runs them on your machine as you
5. Stay on a current release. 2026 advisories hit URL downloads, the cloud-metadata blocklist and the local web chat UI (`Agent.to_web()`, `clai web`)

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, Agno or Pydantic AI?

Pydantic AI scores 83.7 (A) on agent readiness against Agno's 72.8 (BB), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories.

### Are Agno and Pydantic AI open source?

Yes. Agno is open source (Apache-2.0). Pydantic AI is open source (MIT).


## For agents

- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agno-vs-pydantic-ai.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agno-vs-pydantic-ai.min.md
- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "agno", "b": "pydantic-ai"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare agno pydantic-ai`
- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/agno.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/pydantic-ai.json

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