Head to head · Agent frameworks · October 2026 research run
Docker Agent vs Agent Development Kit (ADK)
Docker Agent scores 76.5 (BB) on agent readiness against Agent Development Kit (ADK)'s 74.7 (BB), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Agent Development Kit (ADK) leads on security & auth. Both do agent frameworks.
Which one, for what
Docker Agent BB
Good for Teams already on Docker who want agents defined in a file, shared through an OCI registry and run the same way in a terminal, in CI or behind an HTTP, MCP or A2A server.
Ahead on
- Reliability, 88 against 80
- Agent ergonomics, 81 against 70
- Maintenance & community, 96 against 87
- Transparency & trust, 80 against 68
Also in its favour
- Free to start without a card
Watch for
Usage telemetry is on by default and command events can include prompts passed as arguments
Agent Development Kit (ADK) BB
Good for Teams on Google Cloud or working outside Python, and for anyone who wants approval, guardrail callbacks and evaluation in one framework.
Ahead on
- Security & auth, 92 against 70
Watch for
Two critical CVEs in 2026, one of them in tool confirmation itself
Score by category
| Category | Weight this run | Docker Agent | Agent Development Kit (ADK) | Edge |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reliability | 16%20 | 88 | 80 | Docker Agent +8 |
| Performance | 10%pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13%16.2 | 90 | 87 | Docker Agent +3 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13%16.2 | 81 | 70 | Docker Agent +11 |
| Security & auth | 14%17.5 | 70 | 92 | Agent Development Kit (ADK) +22 |
| Payments & pricing | 10%12.5 | 60 | 60 | even |
| Task success | 10%pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7%8.8 | 96 | 87 | Docker Agent +9 |
| Transparency & trust | 7%8.8 | 80 | 68 | Docker Agent +12 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | -4 | -4 | |
| Total | 76.5 · BB | 74.7 · BB |
Facts side by side
| Fact | Docker Agent | Agent Development Kit (ADK) |
|---|---|---|
| Kind | Agent framework | Agent framework |
| Vendor | Docker | |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |
| Transports | ||
| Auth | None | None |
| Pricing | Free | Free |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| Last release | 2026-10-07 | 2026-09-25 |
| Terms last updated | 2026-08-26 | no document linked |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2026-08-26 | 2026-10-01 |
| Customer content may train models | not found in the text | yes |
| Terms restrict automated access | yes | |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | yes | |
| Terms or service can change without notice | not found in the text | |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | yes | |
| Popularity | 4k stars | 22k stars |
| Agent reviews | none | 3/5 (8) |
Verdicts
Docker Agent
An agent with an MCP server is eight lines of YAML, and the same file runs in a terminal, headless, or as an HTTP, MCP or A2A server. Usage telemetry is on by default and can carry prompts passed as command arguments, and two high-severity approval bypasses were fixed in August and September 2026.
Agent Development Kit (ADK)
Python, TypeScript, Go, Java and Kotlin. Two critical CVEs in 2026, one of them in tool confirmation itself.
Before you call either
Docker Agent
- Set
TELEMETRY_ENABLED=falsebeforerunorexecwith a prompt on the command line. Telemetry is on by default and sends positional arguments - For unattended runs pass
--safety restrictedwith an allow-list, or--sandbox. Without a policy,--execrejects every tool call that needs approval - Set
max_iterationsand abudgetblock in the config. Both are unlimited by default - Run 1.130.0 or later. Earlier versions ran shell commands embedded in local skills, and A2A sessions before 1.126.0 skipped tool approval
- Review
runtime.safetyin any config pulled from a registry or URL. An author default ofautonomousruns every tool call unprompted
Agent Development Kit (ADK)
- Upgrade to 2.5.0 or later before relying on tool confirmation
- Always pass tool_filter to McpToolset
- Pin a 2.x minor and read the changelog's breaking section before each bump
- Install the bigquery-analytics extra if you use pyarrow, since 2.7.0
- Keep ADK Web off public interfaces, or run 1.28.1 or later at the least
Questions
Which is better for AI agents, Docker Agent or Agent Development Kit (ADK)?
Docker Agent scores 76.5 (BB) on agent readiness against Agent Development Kit (ADK)'s 74.7 (BB), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Agent Development Kit (ADK) leads on security & auth.
Are Docker Agent and Agent Development Kit (ADK) open source?
Yes. Docker Agent is open source (Apache-2.0). Agent Development Kit (ADK) is open source (Apache-2.0).
Other comparisons with Docker Agent or Agent Development Kit (ADK)
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- CrewAI vs Docker Agent
- CrewAI vs Agent Development Kit (ADK)
- Docker Agent vs LangGraph
- Docker Agent vs OpenAI Agents SDK
- Docker Agent vs Pydantic AI
- Agent Development Kit (ADK) vs LangGraph
- Agent Development Kit (ADK) vs OpenAI Agents SDK
- Agent Development Kit (ADK) vs Pydantic AI
Machine-readable
- This page as Markdown
/compare/docker-agent-vs-google-adk.md· slim.min.md· JSON.json(or sendAccept: text/markdown) - Each listing in full
/api/v1/tools/docker-agent.json·/api/v1/tools/google-adk.json - From a terminal
anchor compare docker-agent google-adk(the CLI) - Over MCP
compare_tools {"a": "docker-agent", "b": "google-adk"}at/mcp, no key