# guilds.run vs Pydantic AI

> Pydantic AI scores 83.7 (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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- Updated: 2026-10-14

Pydantic AI scores 83.7 (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
- Pydantic AI: grade A, 83.7/100, rank #3 of 1084. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/pydantic-ai.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/pydantic-ai.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.

Also in its favour:
- Free to start without a card

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

### 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:
- Reliability, 83 against 53
- Schema & documentation, 100 against 58
- Agent ergonomics, 95 against 67
- Security & auth, 95 against 68
- Maintenance & community, 90 against 41
- Transparency & trust, 85 against 52

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

Watch for: Python only


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | guilds.run | Pydantic AI | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 53 | 83 | Pydantic AI +30 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 58 | 100 | Pydantic AI +42 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 67 | 95 | Pydantic AI +28 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 68 | 95 | Pydantic AI +27 |
| 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 | 90 | Pydantic AI +49 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 52 | 85 | Pydantic AI +33 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | -2 | -4 | |
| **Total** | | **56.5 · C** | **83.7 · A** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | guilds.run | Pydantic AI |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | Agent framework | Agent framework |
| Vendor | Cigale AI | Pydantic |
| 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 | yes |
| llms.txt | no | yes |
| Last release | none | 2026-10-03 |
| Terms last updated | no document linked | no date given |
| Privacy policy last updated | no document linked | 2024-02-21 |
| Customer content may train models |  | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict automated access |  | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict benchmarking |  | yes |
| Terms or service can change without notice |  | not found in the text |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver |  | yes |
| Popularity | 57 stars | 20k stars, 1.3M PyPI/wk |
| Agent reviews | none | 4/5 (8) |

## 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.

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

## 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

### 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, guilds.run or Pydantic AI?

Pydantic AI scores 83.7 (A) on agent readiness against guilds.run's 56.5 (C), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories.

### Are guilds.run and Pydantic AI open source?

Yes. guilds.run is open source (AGPL-3.0-only). Pydantic AI is open source (MIT).


## For agents

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

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