# guilds.run vs Microsoft Agent Framework

> Microsoft Agent Framework scores 82.2 (A) to guilds.run's 56.5 (C) for agent frameworks. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

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- 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
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- Updated: 2026-10-14

Microsoft Agent Framework scores 82.2 (A) on agent readiness against guilds.run's 56.5 (C), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Both do agent frameworks.

- guilds.run: grade C, 56.5/100, rank #674 of 1084. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/guilds-run.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/guilds-run.json
- Microsoft Agent Framework: grade A, 82.2/100, rank #6 of 1084. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/microsoft-agent-framework.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/microsoft-agent-framework.json
- Best agent frameworks and SDKs: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/frameworks/index.md
- All 55 frameworks comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/frameworks/index.md

## Which one, for what

### guilds.run (C)

Good for: A person or small team that wants a standing, inspectable team of agents with schedules, shared tables and a web app, run on one machine, and is comfortable tracking main.

Watch for: No tagged release, version number, changelog or published image. Users install whatever is on main

### Microsoft Agent Framework (A)

Good for: Teams on Azure or .NET, and for teams moving off AutoGen or Semantic Kernel, that want MCP, approval, checkpointed workflows and OpenTelemetry in one SDK.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 78 against 53
- Schema & documentation, 95 against 58
- Agent ergonomics, 87 against 67
- Security & auth, 93 against 68
- Maintenance & community, 91 against 41
- Transparency & trust, 83 against 52

Also in its favour:
- Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better
- No key needed to call it

Watch for: Changes marked [BREAKING] shipped in minor releases of released packages, including agent-framework-core in 1.20.0 on 2 October 2026


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | guilds.run | Microsoft Agent Framework | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 53 | 78 | Microsoft Agent Framework +25 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 58 | 95 | Microsoft Agent Framework +37 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 67 | 87 | Microsoft Agent Framework +20 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 68 | 93 | Microsoft Agent Framework +25 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 60 | 60 | even |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 41 | 91 | Microsoft Agent Framework +50 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 52 | 83 | Microsoft Agent Framework +31 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | -2 | -2 | |
| **Total** | | **56.5 · C** | **82.2 · A** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | guilds.run | Microsoft Agent Framework |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | Agent framework | Agent framework |
| Vendor | Cigale AI | Microsoft |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |
| Transports |  |  |
| Auth | API key | None |
| Pricing | Free | Free |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | AGPL-3.0-only | MIT |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | no | no |
| Last release | none | 2026-10-08 |
| Terms last updated | no document linked | no document linked |
| Privacy policy last updated | no document linked | no document linked |
| Customer content may train models |  |  |
| Terms restrict automated access |  |  |
| Terms restrict benchmarking |  |  |
| Terms or service can change without notice |  |  |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver |  |  |
| Popularity | 57 stars | 14k stars, 48k PyPI/wk |

## Verdicts

**guilds.run.** A self-hosted multi-agent system that records each run's prompt, tool calls and memory changes, with per-agent models and tools and no telemetry by default. Public since 9 October 2026, it has no tagged release or published package, its own security register lists 13 open issues, and the site's terms and privacy links return 404.

**Microsoft Agent Framework.** Python 1.21.0 and .NET 1.24.0 are MIT, past 1.0 and released about weekly, with an MCP client, tool approval, checkpointed graph workflows and OpenTelemetry. Breaking changes ship in minor releases, a version User-Agent and a feature-usage token are sent by default, and a high-severity advisory in the .NET declarative workflows package was published on 7 October 2026.

## Before you call either

### guilds.run

1. Keep the box on loopback or behind an authenticating proxy with AUTH_MODE=trusted-header. The default mode does not authenticate
2. Put agents that hold different secrets or GitHub tokens on different machines. Agents on one machine can read each other's homes and tokens
3. Back up the .env file written by ./setup.sh. It holds the only copy of the key that encrypts stored credentials
4. Set a spend limit at your model provider. guilds.run sets no spend cap, and max_tool_calls defaults to 50 per run
5. Pin a commit of main when you deploy. There are no tagged releases or versioned images yet

### Microsoft Agent Framework

1. Pin exact versions. Minor releases have carried [BREAKING] changes, so read python/CHANGELOG.md or the upgrade guides before moving up
2. Set `approval_mode="always_require"` on tools and MCP servers that write. The default is `never_require`
3. Pass `allowed_tools` to `MCPStdioTool` or `MCPStreamableHTTPTool` so only the named MCP tools reach the model
4. Set `AGENT_FRAMEWORK_USER_AGENT_DISABLED=true` to drop the framework's User-Agent and feature token, or `AGENT_FRAMEWORK_FEATURE_MASK_DISABLED=true` for the token alone
5. On .NET, use Microsoft.Agents.AI.Workflows.Declarative 1.24.0 or later. Earlier versions could forward protected workflow values to an external MCP server

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, guilds.run or Microsoft Agent Framework?

Microsoft Agent Framework scores 82.2 (A) on agent readiness against guilds.run's 56.5 (C), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories.

### Are guilds.run and Microsoft Agent Framework open source?

Yes. guilds.run is open source (AGPL-3.0-only). Microsoft Agent Framework is open source (MIT).


## For agents

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

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