{ "data": { "a": { "slug": "openai-agents-sdk", "name": "OpenAI Agents SDK", "vendor": "OpenAI", "vendorUrl": "https://openai.com", "kind": "framework", "category": "frameworks", "summary": "Multi-agent framework built on agents, hand-offs and guardrails, with sessions, tracing and human approval.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/openai-agents-sdk", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/openai-agents-sdk.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/openai-agents-sdk.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/openai-agents-sdk.json", "dns": "openai-agents-sdk.grade.anchorterminal.com", "repo": "https://github.com/openai/openai-agents-python", "license": "MIT", "transports": [], "packages": [ { "registry": "pypi", "name": "openai-agents" }, { "registry": "npm", "name": "@openai/agents", "main": true } ], "auth": "api-key", "authNotes": "OpenAI key by default. Other providers through LiteLLM or any-llm.", "pricing": "free", "pricingNotes": "Free and open source. 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Tracing on by default, with model and tool content, sent to OpenAI.", "bestFor": "Teams that want hand-offs, guardrails and approvals with little code, and are happy with OpenAI's tracing or will turn it off.", "strengths": [ "MCP in about 11 lines, with static and dynamic tool filters and require_approval", "Input and output guardrails, built-in human approval and sandbox agents", "Typed exceptions plus error_handlers, and RunState to resume a paused run", "9 open issues and 2 open pull requests on 2026-10-04", "A written 0.Y.Z versioning policy with breaking changes listed per minor" ], "weaknesses": [ "Tracing on by default, with model and tool content, sent to OpenAI", "Tracing isn't available to zero-data-retention organisations", "Pre-1.0, and minor releases can carry breaking changes, as 0.20.0, 0.21.0 and 0.22.0 did", "0.20.0 changed the default model", "Before 0.24.0, RunConfig(tracing_disabled=True) didn't stop spans inside a caller's own trace" ], "agentNotes": [ "Set OPENAI_AGENTS_DISABLE_TRACING=1 or OPENAI_AGENTS_TRACE_INCLUDE_SENSITIVE_DATA=0. On versions before 0.24.0, 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" ], "metrics": { "kind": "library", "measured": false }, "reviewCount": 8, "avgRating": 3.9, "history": [ { "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "high", "grade": "AA", "methodology": "0.7", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 86.2 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 97, "maintenance": 100, "payments": 60, "reliability": 85, "schema": 95, "security": 80, "transparency": 84 }, "provenanceScore": 94, "checked": { "categories": { "ergonomics": "2026-11-01", "maintenance": "2026-11-01", "payments": "2026-11-01", "reliability": "2026-11-01", "schema": "2026-11-01", "security": "2026-11-01", "transparency": "2026-11-01" }, "last": "2026-11-01", "lastMoved": "2026-10-08", "oldest": "2026-11-01", "stale": false, "staleAfterDays": 90 } }, "connect": { "install": "pip install openai-agents # or: npm i @openai/agents" }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/agent.framework", "tool": "https://letme.dev/openai-agents-sdk" }, "sameCompany": [ "openai-api", "openai-embeddings", "openai-guardrails", "openai-moderation", "openai-image-api", "openai-sora", "openai-speech-to-text", "gpt-live", "openai-realtime", "openai-decisions-api", "openai-agents-api", "openai-codex", "gpt-oss-120b", "gpt-oss-20b" ], "area": "frameworks", "provenance": { "legalEntity": "OpenAI OpCo, LLC", "domain": "openai.com", "domainRegistered": "2007-01-19", "endpointOnVendorDomain": null, "terms": "https://openai.com/policies/services-agreement/", "privacy": "https://openai.com/policies/privacy-policy/", "statusPage": "https://status.openai.com", "changelog": "https://openai.github.io/openai-agents-python/release/", "securityTxt": "valid", "checked": "2026-09-26", "score": 94 }, "requirements": { "setupChecked": true, "complianceChecked": true, "card": "unknown", "freeTier": true, "minutes": 5, "credential": "api-key", "hosting": [ "self-hosted" ], "euResidency": "unknown", "trainsOnData": "no", "zeroRetention": "unknown", "dpa": true, "selfHost": "yes" }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/openai-agents-sdk.json", "live": { "slug": "openai-agents-sdk", "vendorStatus": { "page": "https://status.openai.com", "indicator": "none", "summary": "All Systems Operational", "checkedAt": "2026-11-07T19:22:48.855056154Z" }, "versions": [ { "registry": "github", "name": "openai/openai-agents-python", "version": "v0.24.0", "released": "2026-10-15", "seenAt": "2026-11-06T23:51:34.990215333Z" }, { "registry": "npm", "name": "@openai/agents", "version": "0.21.0", "seenAt": "2026-11-06T23:51:34.164066161Z" }, { "registry": "pypi", "name": "openai-agents", "version": "0.24.0", "released": "2026-10-15", "seenAt": "2026-11-06T23:51:32.387226297Z" } ], "githubStars": 30534, "npmWeekly": 2490720, "pypiWeekly": 4906329, "securityTxt": { "url": "https://openai.com/.well-known/security.txt", "state": "valid", "checkedAt": "2026-11-07T16:00:49.231731777Z" }, "llmsTxt": { "url": "https://openai.github.io/openai-agents-python/llms.txt", "ok": true, "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-11-07T15:33:22.742814931Z" }, "domain": { "domain": "openai.com", "registered": "2007-01-19", "source": "https://rdap.verisign.com/com/v1/domain/openai.com", "checkedAt": "2026-11-01T14:19:18.345389832Z" }, "pages": [ { "url": "https://openai.github.io/openai-agents-python/release/", "kind": "changelog", "status": 304, "checkedAt": "2026-11-07T14:15:24.32755013Z", "changedAt": "2026-10-28T04:39:34.685607508Z", "fingerprint": "251fd383498a" }, { "url": "https://openai.com/policies/privacy-policy/", "kind": "privacy", "status": 403, "checkedAt": "2026-10-16T22:27:51.367579814Z", "changedAt": "2026-10-11T19:31:08.710809907Z", "fingerprint": "604e9f69c16a" }, { "url": "https://openai.com/policies/services-agreement/", "kind": "terms", "status": 403, "checkedAt": "2026-10-16T22:27:53.401505958Z", "changedAt": "2026-10-04T15:46:24.458479472Z", "fingerprint": "46a4b30744ca" } ], "github": { "repo": "openai/openai-agents-python", "checkedAt": "2026-11-02T09:12:58.455555785Z", "stars": 30451, "archived": false, "issuesEnabled": true, "pushedAt": "2026-11-01T04:56:10Z", "openIssues": 28, "openPRs": 8, "issuesOpened90d": 261, "issuesClosed90d": 256, "prsMerged90d": 593, "ci": { "branch": "main", "runs": 50, "success": 50, "failure": 0, "other": 0, "latest": "success", "latestAt": "2026-10-30T20:29:39Z" }, "replies": { "sampled": 25, "unanswered": 13, "medianDays": 4.4 } }, "updatedAt": "2026-11-07T19:22:48.855056154Z" } }, "answer": "OpenAI Agents SDK scores 86.2 (AA) on agent readiness against smolagents's 58.7 (C), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories.", "b": { "slug": "smolagents", "name": "smolagents", "vendor": "Hugging Face", "vendorUrl": "https://github.com/huggingface/smolagents", "kind": "framework", "category": "frameworks", "summary": "smolagents is Hugging Face's small Python library for agents that write and run Python code (CodeAgent) or call tools as JSON (ToolCallingAgent), with MCP tools, any model provider and sandboxed execution through E2B, Docker, Modal or Blaxel.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/smolagents", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/smolagents.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/smolagents.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/smolagents.json", "dns": "smolagents.grade.anchorterminal.com", "repo": "https://github.com/huggingface/smolagents", "license": "Apache-2.0", "transports": [], "packages": [ { "registry": "pypi", "name": "smolagents" } ], "auth": "none", "authNotes": "A library with no credentials of its own. The default InferenceClientModel uses a Hugging Face token; other providers and remote sandboxes take their own keys.", "pricing": "free", "pricingNotes": "Free and open source under Apache-2.0. You pay for model calls and for any remote sandbox (E2B, Modal, Blaxel) you use.", "priceSummary": "Free · OSS", "where": "library", "x402": { "level": "no", "evidence": "No x402, MPP or L402 in the docs or the repository (checked 2026-11-06).", "endpoints": [] }, "toolCount": null, "popularity": { "githubStars": 30234, "npmWeekly": null, "pypiWeekly": 171063, "asOf": "2026-11-06" }, "docsUrl": "https://huggingface.co/docs/smolagents/index", "llmsTxt": "https://huggingface.co/docs/smolagents/llms.txt", "capabilities": [ "agent.framework", "agent.mcp-client", "agent.multi-agent" ], "tags": [ "framework", "python", "open-source", "llms-txt", "mcp", "code-agent", "sandbox" ], "lastRelease": "2026-05-29", "graded": true, "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 58.7, "grade": "C", "agentReady": false, "rank": 739, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 1510, "categoryRank": 18, "methodology": "0.7", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 68, "maintenance": 34, "payments": 60, "reliability": 64, "schema": 81, "security": 66, "transparency": 65 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "medium", "date": "2026-11-06" }, "negative": -6, "negativeNotes": [ "2025-12-23 to 2026-03-27. GHSA-q9r5-6hrr-9ph7 (CVE-2025-14931, critical, from the Zero Day Initiative) reports remote code execution through pickle deserialisation in the remote Python executor; the fix for remote executors merged on 15 February 2026, about eight weeks after publication. CVE-2026-2654 (SSRF, 1.24.0) and CVE-2026-4963 (code injection in LocalPythonExecutor, an incomplete earlier fix) are rated low, and both records say the vendor did not respond. Fixed or low, under 12 months old, 6 points. https://osv.dev/vulnerability/GHSA-q9r5-6hrr-9ph7" ], "verdict": "A compact Python library for code-writing and tool-calling agents, with MCP tools, any model provider and remote sandboxes through E2B, Docker, Modal or Blaxel. The newest release is 1.26.0 of 29 May 2026, a critical remote-executor RCE took about eight weeks to fix, and the local executor isn't a security boundary.", "bestFor": "Small Python projects and research that want code-writing agents with minimal abstraction.", "strengths": [ "CodeAgent and ToolCallingAgent in a small, readable codebase", "MCP tools from any server through MCPClient", "Remote execution through E2B, Docker, Modal or Blaxel, with a guide on when it's needed", "No telemetry found in the source", "llms.txt and Markdown docs on huggingface.co" ], "weaknesses": [ "No release since 1.26.0 on 29 May 2026, and few commits to main since August", "The local Python executor isn't a security boundary, per its own guide", "A critical RCE in the remote executor (published December 2025) was fixed in February 2026", "No human approval hook, retry or resume built in", "Breaking removals such as WasmExecutor shipped in minor releases" ], "agentNotes": [ "Run CodeAgent with `executor_type` set to e2b, docker, modal or blaxel whenever the model or its inputs aren't trusted", "Use smolagents 1.24.0 or later to get the remote-executor deserialisation fix", "Set max_steps and final_answer_checks so a run stops on its own", "Pass structured_output explicitly to MCPClient to avoid the default-change warning", "Pin the version, since minor releases have removed APIs" ], "metrics": { "kind": "local", "measured": false }, "reviewCount": 0, "avgRating": 0, "history": [ { "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "medium", "grade": "C", "methodology": "0.7", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 58.7 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 68, "maintenance": 34, "payments": 60, "reliability": 64, "schema": 81, "security": 66, "transparency": 67 }, "provenanceScore": 62, "checked": { "categories": { "ergonomics": "2026-11-06", "maintenance": "2026-11-06", "payments": "2026-11-06", "reliability": "2026-11-06", "schema": "2026-11-06", "security": "2026-11-06", "transparency": "2026-11-06" }, "last": "2026-11-06", "oldest": "2026-11-06", "stale": false, "staleAfterDays": 90 } }, "connect": { "install": "pip install smolagents # MCP: pip install 'smolagents[mcp]'" }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/agent.framework", "tool": "https://letme.dev/smolagents" }, "sameCompany": [ "hugging-face-inference-providers", "hugging-face-inference-endpoints", "carbon-x", "smollm3-3b" ], "area": "frameworks", "provenance": { "legalEntity": "Hugging Face, Inc.", "domain": "huggingface.co", "domainRegistered": "", "endpointOnVendorDomain": null, "terms": "https://huggingface.co/terms-of-service", "privacy": "https://huggingface.co/privacy", "statusPage": "", "changelog": "https://github.com/huggingface/smolagents/releases", "securityTxt": "unknown", "checked": "2026-11-06", "notes": [ "SECURITY.md takes reports through GitHub private vulnerability reporting or security@huggingface.co, with no bounty.", "huggingface.co/robots.txt allows all crawlers.", "The terms and privacy links are Hugging Face's site-wide documents; the library itself collects nothing." ], "score": 62 }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/smolagents.json", "live": { "slug": "smolagents", "versions": [ { "registry": "github", "name": "huggingface/smolagents", "version": "v1.26.0", "released": "2026-05-29", "seenAt": "2026-11-07T00:06:55.865567193Z" }, { "registry": "pypi", "name": "smolagents", "version": "1.26.0", "released": "2026-05-29", "seenAt": "2026-11-07T00:06:55.546186347Z" } ], "githubStars": 30238, "pypiWeekly": 171063, "securityTxt": { "url": "https://huggingface.co/.well-known/security.txt", "state": "valid", "expires": "2030-07-01T08:42:00.000Z", "checkedAt": "2026-11-07T16:00:00.493446773Z" }, "llmsTxt": { "url": "https://huggingface.co/docs/smolagents/llms.txt", "ok": true, "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-11-07T15:33:57.593545427Z" }, "updatedAt": "2026-11-07T16:00:00.493446773Z" } }, "edges": [ { "by": 66, "category": "maintenance", "leads": "openai-agents-sdk", "name": "Maintenance \u0026 community", "reasons": { "a": "0.24.0 on PyPI on 2026-10-15, 17 days before 1 November (30). 11 PyPI releases in the 90 days to 1 November, from 0.19.3 on 4 August to 0.24.0 (20). 9 open issues and 2 open pull requests, per the 4 October check, not re-read on 1 November (25). Python 0.24.0 and @openai/agents 0.21.0 (tagged 20 October) both current (15). Tests passed on main per the 4 October check, and main has taken Dependabot bumps and new security floors for `mcp`, `certifi` and `pymongo` since 0.24.0 (10).", "b": "v1.26.0 on 29 May 2026, 161 days before this check (10). No release in the 90 days to 6 November (0). 416 open issues and 1,045 open issues and pull requests on 6 November, with 144 issues opened in the 90 days to 3 November. Of the 50 newest, 26 had a comment and 1 was closed. Two 2026 CVE records say the vendor didn't respond to the reporter, and seven commits reached main from 8 August to 6 November (6). Python only, and the package is the current one (10). CI with actions pinned to commit SHAs and Dependabot for actions (8). 10+0+6+10+8 = 34." }, "scores": { "a": 100, "b": 34 } }, { "by": 29, "category": "ergonomics", "leads": "openai-agents-sdk", "name": "Agent ergonomics", "reasons": { "a": "An agent with one MCP server is about 11 lines, with static and dynamic tool filters and tool-list caching (25). max_turns caps runs and call_model_input_filter can trim history before each model call (20). Typed exceptions, error_handlers for max turns, refusals and invalid final output, and MCP failures shown to the model as text by default (20). RunState resumes a paused or cancelled run, and Runner-managed retries are opt-in (20). An agent needs a name and instructions, but 0.20.0 changed the default model (7). Python and JavaScript (5).", "b": "Framework reading. MCPClient loads an MCP server's tools in a few lines (20). max_steps, planning intervals and final_answer_checks bound a run (16). Errors from tools and code go back to the model as observations (14). No built-in retry, idempotency or resume beyond replaying memory (8). Few required parameters and many providers, Python only, and the default model needs a Hugging Face token (10). 20+16+14+8+10 = 68." }, "scores": { "a": 97, "b": 68 } }, { "by": 24, "category": "transparency", "leads": "openai-agents-sdk", "name": "Transparency \u0026 trust", "reasons": { "a": "MIT (30). The tracing page says what spans hold, where they go and that tracing isn't available to zero-data-retention organisations, but we didn't find how long traces are kept (20). Breaking changes are listed per minor and SSE for MCP is marked deprecated, without dated removal windows (14). Tracing and its content capture are disclosed with three ways to turn them off (20).", "b": "Apache-2.0 (30). The library stores nothing itself; the default model sends prompts to Hugging Face's inference providers, which the docs show (20). Breaking removals such as WasmExecutor shipped in minor releases, without a written deprecation policy (5). No telemetry, though no page states it (12). 30+20+5+12 = 67." }, "scores": { "a": 89, "b": 65 } }, { "by": 21, "category": "reliability", "leads": "openai-agents-sdk", "name": "Reliability", "reasons": { "a": "Official packages on PyPI (Python 3.10 or newer, `requires-python` re-read on 1 November) and npm (20). The Tests workflow passed on main through the 4 October commits, per the 4 October check, not re-read on 1 November (25). 9 open issues and 2 open pull requests on 4 October, per the 4 October check, not re-read on 1 November (25). A written policy for 0.Y.Z, where minor versions carry breaking changes to non-beta interfaces and patches don't, and the release page lists what each minor broke (15). 0.23.0 and 0.24.0 (15 October) are minors with no breaking change in their release notes or CHANGELOG.md, and the release page still has no entry for either on 1 November. 0.24.0, still pre-1.0 and still the newest on PyPI on 1 November (0).", "b": "Local-package reading. Official PyPI package with Python 3.10 or newer (20). A public tests workflow runs pytest on Python 3.10 and 3.12 for pushes and pull requests; whether main passes wasn't read (15). 416 open issues and 1,045 open issues and pull requests on 6 November, with 144 issues opened in the 90 days to 3 November. Of the 50 newest, 26 had a comment and 1 was closed. Two 2026 CVE records say the vendor didn't respond to the reporter, and seven commits reached main from 8 August to 6 November (6). Release notes on GitHub tags but no changelog file, and the remote WasmExecutor was removed in a minor release (8). 1.0 since 31 December 2024 (15). 20+15+6+8+15 = 64." }, "scores": { "a": 85, "b": 64 } }, { "by": 14, "category": "schema", "leads": "openai-agents-sdk", "name": "Schema \u0026 documentation", "reasons": { "a": "Typed Python API with a reference section in the docs (25). llms.txt with an API Reference Highlights section, re-read on 1 November (10). Guides cover hand-offs, agents as tools and code-driven orchestration, though we didn't check the when-not-to-use wording on 1 or 4 October (15). Function tools get their schemas from typed Python signatures (15). Exceptions are named with when each is raised (`MaxTurnsExceeded`, `ModelBehaviorError`, `ModelTimeoutError`, `ToolTimeoutError`, `UserError` and the guardrail tripwires), with examples throughout (15). Versioning policy and release notes per minor, and from 0.23.0 a release-please CHANGELOG.md in the repository (15).", "b": "Framework reading. A typed Python API with reference pages for agents, models, tools and executors (22). llms.txt and Markdown pages on huggingface.co (10). The docs say when to use CodeAgent or ToolCallingAgent and when a sandbox is needed (17). Tools declare typed inputs in a schema dictionary or from a decorated function (12). Many runnable examples; error classes exist but aren't catalogued (10). Versions tagged with release notes, no changelog file (10). 22+10+17+12+10+10 = 81." }, "scores": { "a": 95, "b": 81 } }, { "by": 14, "category": "security", "leads": "openai-agents-sdk", "name": "Security \u0026 auth", "reasons": { "a": "Tracing is on by default and trace_include_sensitive_data defaults to true, so model and function-call inputs and outputs go to OpenAI's Traces dashboard. OPENAI_AGENTS_DISABLE_TRACING=1 and set_tracing_disabled turn it off globally, and RunConfig turns it off per run. Through 0.23.1 the per-run opt-out didn't apply inside the caller's own trace. The fix shipped in 0.24.0 on 15 October (10). Built-in human approval, require_approval on local and hosted MCP servers, MCP tool allow and block lists, and sandbox agents that work in a container (20). Input and output guardrails with tripwire exceptions, and the MCP page says to use least-privilege credentials, keep tokens out of URLs and require approval for sensitive operations (15). Built-in tracing with third-party processors such as Weights \u0026 Biases and Datadog (15). SECURITY.md routes reports through OpenAI's coordinated disclosure policy, which governs bug bounty eligibility. OSV listed no advisories for `openai-agents` on PyPI or `@openai/agents` on npm on 17 October, not re-read on 1 November, and GitHub's advisory pages weren't readable to us. On main, unreleased on 1 November, pyproject.toml raises the `mcp` floor to 1.30.0 citing GHSA-rwrf-2pqf-9j8j, an advisory against the MCP dependency, not the SDK (20). Framework reading, so SOC 2 isn't scored.", "b": "Framework reading (telemetry defaults, approvals, guardrails, sandboxing). No telemetry found in the source (25). No human approval hook beyond step callbacks; the local executor restricts imports but the guide says it isn't a security tool, and isolation needs a remote executor (10). The secure execution guide covers LLM-generated code risks, without prompt-injection guidance for tool output (7). OpenTelemetry tracing through OpenInference and run inspection (12). SECURITY.md with private reporting and CVE credit, and the remote-executor RCE was fixed in public, but two 2026 CVE records say the vendor didn't respond (12). 25+10+7+12+12 = 66." }, "scores": { "a": 80, "b": 66 } } ], "facts": [ { "a": "Agent framework", "b": "Agent framework", "name": "Kind" }, { "a": "OpenAI", "b": "Hugging Face", "name": "Vendor" }, { "a": "no (local only)", "b": "no (local only)", "name": "Hosted endpoint" }, { "a": "", "b": "", "name": "Transports" }, { "a": "API key", "b": "None", "name": "Auth" }, { "a": "Free", "b": "Free", "name": "Pricing" }, { "a": "no", "b": "no", "name": "x402" }, { "a": "MIT", "b": "Apache-2.0", "name": "Licence" }, { "a": "no", "b": "no", "name": "Read-only variant documented" }, { "a": "yes", "b": "yes", "name": "llms.txt" }, { "a": "2026-10-15", "b": "2026-05-29", "name": "Last release" }, { "a": "couldn't be read", "b": "2022-09-15", "name": "Terms last updated" }, { "a": "couldn't be read", "b": "2023-03-28", "name": "Privacy policy last updated" }, { "a": "couldn't be read", "b": "not found in the text", "name": "Customer content may train models" }, { "a": "couldn't be read", "b": "not found in the text", "name": "Terms restrict automated access" }, { "a": "couldn't be read", "b": "not found in the text", "name": "Terms restrict benchmarking" }, { "a": "couldn't be read", "b": "yes", "name": "Terms or service can change without notice" }, { "a": "couldn't be read", "b": "not found in the text", "name": "Arbitration or class-action waiver" }, { "a": "30k stars, 1.3M npm/wk, 3M PyPI/wk", "b": "30k stars, 171k PyPI/wk", "name": "Popularity" }, { "a": "3.9/5 (8)", "b": "none", "name": "Agent reviews" } ], "faq": [ { "answer": "OpenAI Agents SDK scores 86.2 (AA) on agent readiness against smolagents's 58.7 (C), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories.", "question": "Which is better for AI agents, OpenAI Agents SDK or smolagents?" }, { "answer": "Yes. OpenAI Agents SDK is open source (MIT). smolagents is open source (Apache-2.0).", "question": "Are OpenAI Agents SDK and smolagents open source?" } ], "goodFor": [ { "aheadOn": [ "Reliability, 85 against 64", "Schema \u0026 documentation, 95 against 81", "Agent ergonomics, 97 against 68", "Security \u0026 auth, 80 against 66", "Maintenance \u0026 community, 100 against 34", "Transparency \u0026 trust, 89 against 65" ], "also": [ "Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better", "No incidents deducted, where smolagents loses 6 points for them" ], "goodFor": "Teams that want hand-offs, guardrails and approvals with little code, and are happy with OpenAI's tracing or will turn it off.", "slug": "openai-agents-sdk", "watchFor": "Tracing on by default, with model and tool content, sent to OpenAI" }, { "aheadOn": null, "also": [ "No key needed to call it" ], "goodFor": "Small Python projects and research that want code-writing agents with minimal abstraction.", "slug": "smolagents", "watchFor": "No release since 1.26.0 on 29 May 2026, and few commits to main since August" } ], "history": { "openai-agents-sdk": [ { "causes": [ "method" ], "date": "2026-10-08", "delta": -0.3, "from": 86.5, "fromGrade": "AA", "to": 86.2, "toGrade": "AA" } ], "smolagents": null }, "job": { "capability": "agent.framework", "name": "Agent frameworks" }, "others": [ { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agentos-vs-openai-agents-sdk.json", "title": "AgentOS vs OpenAI Agents SDK", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agentos-vs-openai-agents-sdk" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agentos-vs-smolagents.json", "title": "AgentOS vs smolagents", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agentos-vs-smolagents" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agno-vs-openai-agents-sdk.json", "title": "Agno vs OpenAI Agents SDK", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agno-vs-openai-agents-sdk" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agno-vs-smolagents.json", "title": "Agno vs smolagents", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agno-vs-smolagents" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boxlang-ai-vs-openai-agents-sdk.json", "title": "BoxLang AI vs OpenAI Agents SDK", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boxlang-ai-vs-openai-agents-sdk" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boxlang-ai-vs-smolagents.json", "title": "BoxLang AI vs smolagents", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boxlang-ai-vs-smolagents" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/claude-agent-sdk-vs-openai-agents-sdk.json", "title": "Claude Agent SDK vs OpenAI Agents SDK", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/claude-agent-sdk-vs-openai-agents-sdk" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/claude-agent-sdk-vs-smolagents.json", "title": "Claude Agent SDK vs smolagents", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/claude-agent-sdk-vs-smolagents" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/crewai-vs-openai-agents-sdk.json", "title": "CrewAI vs OpenAI Agents SDK", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/crewai-vs-openai-agents-sdk" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/crewai-vs-smolagents.json", "title": "CrewAI vs smolagents", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/crewai-vs-smolagents" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cursor-agent-sdk-vs-openai-agents-sdk.json", "title": "Cursor Agent SDK vs OpenAI Agents SDK", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cursor-agent-sdk-vs-openai-agents-sdk" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cursor-agent-sdk-vs-smolagents.json", "title": "Cursor Agent SDK vs smolagents", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cursor-agent-sdk-vs-smolagents" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/docker-agent-vs-openai-agents-sdk.json", "title": "Docker Agent vs OpenAI Agents SDK", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/docker-agent-vs-openai-agents-sdk" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/docker-agent-vs-smolagents.json", "title": "Docker Agent vs smolagents", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/docker-agent-vs-smolagents" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-adk-vs-openai-agents-sdk.json", "title": "Agent Development Kit (ADK) vs OpenAI Agents SDK", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-adk-vs-openai-agents-sdk" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-adk-vs-smolagents.json", "title": "Agent Development Kit (ADK) vs smolagents", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-adk-vs-smolagents" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/guilds-run-vs-openai-agents-sdk.json", "title": "guilds.run vs OpenAI Agents SDK", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/guilds-run-vs-openai-agents-sdk" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/guilds-run-vs-smolagents.json", "title": "guilds.run vs smolagents", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/guilds-run-vs-smolagents" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/langgraph-vs-openai-agents-sdk.json", "title": "LangGraph vs OpenAI Agents SDK", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/langgraph-vs-openai-agents-sdk" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/langgraph-vs-smolagents.json", "title": "LangGraph vs smolagents", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/langgraph-vs-smolagents" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/llamaindex-vs-openai-agents-sdk.json", "title": "LlamaIndex Framework vs OpenAI Agents SDK", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/llamaindex-vs-openai-agents-sdk" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/llamaindex-vs-smolagents.json", "title": "LlamaIndex Framework vs smolagents", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/llamaindex-vs-smolagents" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mastra-vs-openai-agents-sdk.json", "title": "Mastra vs OpenAI Agents SDK", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mastra-vs-openai-agents-sdk" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mastra-vs-smolagents.json", "title": "Mastra vs smolagents", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mastra-vs-smolagents" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/microsoft-agent-framework-vs-openai-agents-sdk.json", "title": "Microsoft Agent Framework vs OpenAI Agents SDK", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/microsoft-agent-framework-vs-openai-agents-sdk" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/microsoft-agent-framework-vs-smolagents.json", "title": "Microsoft Agent Framework vs smolagents", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/microsoft-agent-framework-vs-smolagents" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-agents-sdk-vs-pydantic-ai.json", "title": "OpenAI Agents SDK vs Pydantic AI", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-agents-sdk-vs-pydantic-ai" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-agents-sdk-vs-strands-agents.json", "title": "OpenAI Agents SDK vs Strands Agents", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-agents-sdk-vs-strands-agents" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-agents-sdk-vs-tradingagents.json", "title": "OpenAI Agents SDK vs TradingAgents", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-agents-sdk-vs-tradingagents" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-agents-sdk-vs-vercel-ai-sdk.json", "title": "OpenAI Agents SDK vs AI SDK", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-agents-sdk-vs-vercel-ai-sdk" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/pydantic-ai-vs-smolagents.json", "title": "Pydantic AI vs smolagents", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/pydantic-ai-vs-smolagents" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/smolagents-vs-strands-agents.json", "title": "smolagents vs Strands Agents", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/smolagents-vs-strands-agents" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/smolagents-vs-tradingagents.json", "title": "smolagents vs TradingAgents", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/smolagents-vs-tradingagents" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/smolagents-vs-vercel-ai-sdk.json", "title": "smolagents vs AI SDK", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/smolagents-vs-vercel-ai-sdk" } ], "panel": null, "scores": [ { "by": 21, "edge": "openai-agents-sdk", "key": "reliability", "name": "Reliability", "openai-agents-sdk": 85, "smolagents": 64, "weight": 16 }, { "key": "performance", "name": "Performance", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "by": 14, "edge": "openai-agents-sdk", "key": "schema", "name": "Schema \u0026 documentation", "openai-agents-sdk": 95, "smolagents": 81, "weight": 13 }, { "by": 29, "edge": "openai-agents-sdk", "key": "ergonomics", "name": "Agent ergonomics", "openai-agents-sdk": 97, "smolagents": 68, "weight": 13 }, { "by": 14, "edge": "openai-agents-sdk", "key": "security", "name": "Security \u0026 auth", "openai-agents-sdk": 80, "smolagents": 66, "weight": 14 }, { "by": 0, "edge": "", "key": "payments", "name": "Payments \u0026 pricing", "openai-agents-sdk": 60, "smolagents": 60, "weight": 10 }, { "key": "tasks", "name": "Task success", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "by": 66, "edge": "openai-agents-sdk", "key": "maintenance", "name": "Maintenance \u0026 community", "openai-agents-sdk": 100, "smolagents": 34, "weight": 7 }, { "by": 24, "edge": "openai-agents-sdk", "key": "transparency", "name": "Transparency \u0026 trust", "openai-agents-sdk": 89, "smolagents": 65, "weight": 7 } ], "summary": "OpenAI Agents SDK scores 86.2 (AA) on agent readiness against smolagents's 58.7 (C), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Both do agent frameworks.", "tasks": null, "tutorials": [], "verdicts": { "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.", "smolagents": "A compact Python library for code-writing and tool-calling agents, with MCP tools, any model provider and remote sandboxes through E2B, Docker, Modal or Blaxel. The newest release is 1.26.0 of 29 May 2026, a critical remote-executor RCE took about eight weeks to fix, and the local executor isn't a security boundary." } }, "kind": "anchor.page", "links": { "api": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json", "html": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-agents-sdk-vs-smolagents", "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-agents-sdk-vs-smolagents.json", "llms": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt", "markdown": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-agents-sdk-vs-smolagents.md", "mcp": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp", "slim": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-agents-sdk-vs-smolagents.min.md" }, "markdown": "OpenAI Agents SDK scores 86.2 (AA) on agent readiness against smolagents's 58.7 (C), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Both do agent frameworks.\n\n- OpenAI Agents SDK: grade AA, 86.2/100, rank #3 of 1510. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/openai-agents-sdk.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/openai-agents-sdk.json\n- smolagents: grade C, 58.7/100, rank #739 of 1510. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/smolagents.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/smolagents.json\n- Best agent frameworks and SDKs: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/frameworks/index.md\n- All 171 frameworks comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/frameworks/index.md\n\n## Which one, for what\n\n### OpenAI Agents SDK (AA)\n\nGood for: Teams that want hand-offs, guardrails and approvals with little code, and are happy with OpenAI's tracing or will turn it off.\n\nAhead on:\n- Reliability, 85 against 64\n- Schema \u0026 documentation, 95 against 81\n- Agent ergonomics, 97 against 68\n- Security \u0026 auth, 80 against 66\n- Maintenance \u0026 community, 100 against 34\n- Transparency \u0026 trust, 89 against 65\n\nAlso in its favour:\n- Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better\n- No incidents deducted, where smolagents loses 6 points for them\n\nWatch for: Tracing on by default, with model and tool content, sent to OpenAI\n\n### smolagents (C)\n\nGood for: Small Python projects and research that want code-writing agents with minimal abstraction.\n\nAlso in its favour:\n- No key needed to call it\n\nWatch for: No release since 1.26.0 on 29 May 2026, and few commits to main since August\n\n\n## Why the edge\n\n### Maintenance \u0026 community: OpenAI Agents SDK +66\n\n- OpenAI Agents SDK (100): 0.24.0 on PyPI on 2026-10-15, 17 days before 1 November (30). 11 PyPI releases in the 90 days to 1 November, from 0.19.3 on 4 August to 0.24.0 (20). 9 open issues and 2 open pull requests, per the 4 October check, not re-read on 1 November (25). Python 0.24.0 and @openai/agents 0.21.0 (tagged 20 October) both current (15). Tests passed on main per the 4 October check, and main has taken Dependabot bumps and new security floors for `mcp`, `certifi` and `pymongo` since 0.24.0 (10).\n- smolagents (34): v1.26.0 on 29 May 2026, 161 days before this check (10). No release in the 90 days to 6 November (0). 416 open issues and 1,045 open issues and pull requests on 6 November, with 144 issues opened in the 90 days to 3 November. Of the 50 newest, 26 had a comment and 1 was closed. Two 2026 CVE records say the vendor didn't respond to the reporter, and seven commits reached main from 8 August to 6 November (6). Python only, and the package is the current one (10). CI with actions pinned to commit SHAs and Dependabot for actions (8). 10+0+6+10+8 = 34.\n\n### Agent ergonomics: OpenAI Agents SDK +29\n\n- OpenAI Agents SDK (97): An agent with one MCP server is about 11 lines, with static and dynamic tool filters and tool-list caching (25). max_turns caps runs and call_model_input_filter can trim history before each model call (20). Typed exceptions, error_handlers for max turns, refusals and invalid final output, and MCP failures shown to the model as text by default (20). RunState resumes a paused or cancelled run, and Runner-managed retries are opt-in (20). An agent needs a name and instructions, but 0.20.0 changed the default model (7). Python and JavaScript (5).\n- smolagents (68): Framework reading. MCPClient loads an MCP server's tools in a few lines (20). max_steps, planning intervals and final_answer_checks bound a run (16). Errors from tools and code go back to the model as observations (14). No built-in retry, idempotency or resume beyond replaying memory (8). Few required parameters and many providers, Python only, and the default model needs a Hugging Face token (10). 20+16+14+8+10 = 68.\n\n### Transparency \u0026 trust: OpenAI Agents SDK +24\n\n- OpenAI Agents SDK (89): MIT (30). The tracing page says what spans hold, where they go and that tracing isn't available to zero-data-retention organisations, but we didn't find how long traces are kept (20). Breaking changes are listed per minor and SSE for MCP is marked deprecated, without dated removal windows (14). Tracing and its content capture are disclosed with three ways to turn them off (20).\n- smolagents (65): Apache-2.0 (30). The library stores nothing itself; the default model sends prompts to Hugging Face's inference providers, which the docs show (20). Breaking removals such as WasmExecutor shipped in minor releases, without a written deprecation policy (5). No telemetry, though no page states it (12). 30+20+5+12 = 67.\n\n### Reliability: OpenAI Agents SDK +21\n\n- OpenAI Agents SDK (85): Official packages on PyPI (Python 3.10 or newer, `requires-python` re-read on 1 November) and npm (20). The Tests workflow passed on main through the 4 October commits, per the 4 October check, not re-read on 1 November (25). 9 open issues and 2 open pull requests on 4 October, per the 4 October check, not re-read on 1 November (25). A written policy for 0.Y.Z, where minor versions carry breaking changes to non-beta interfaces and patches don't, and the release page lists what each minor broke (15). 0.23.0 and 0.24.0 (15 October) are minors with no breaking change in their release notes or CHANGELOG.md, and the release page still has no entry for either on 1 November. 0.24.0, still pre-1.0 and still the newest on PyPI on 1 November (0).\n- smolagents (64): Local-package reading. Official PyPI package with Python 3.10 or newer (20). A public tests workflow runs pytest on Python 3.10 and 3.12 for pushes and pull requests; whether main passes wasn't read (15). 416 open issues and 1,045 open issues and pull requests on 6 November, with 144 issues opened in the 90 days to 3 November. Of the 50 newest, 26 had a comment and 1 was closed. Two 2026 CVE records say the vendor didn't respond to the reporter, and seven commits reached main from 8 August to 6 November (6). Release notes on GitHub tags but no changelog file, and the remote WasmExecutor was removed in a minor release (8). 1.0 since 31 December 2024 (15). 20+15+6+8+15 = 64.\n\n### Schema \u0026 documentation: OpenAI Agents SDK +14\n\n- OpenAI Agents SDK (95): Typed Python API with a reference section in the docs (25). llms.txt with an API Reference Highlights section, re-read on 1 November (10). Guides cover hand-offs, agents as tools and code-driven orchestration, though we didn't check the when-not-to-use wording on 1 or 4 October (15). Function tools get their schemas from typed Python signatures (15). Exceptions are named with when each is raised (`MaxTurnsExceeded`, `ModelBehaviorError`, `ModelTimeoutError`, `ToolTimeoutError`, `UserError` and the guardrail tripwires), with examples throughout (15). Versioning policy and release notes per minor, and from 0.23.0 a release-please CHANGELOG.md in the repository (15).\n- smolagents (81): Framework reading. A typed Python API with reference pages for agents, models, tools and executors (22). llms.txt and Markdown pages on huggingface.co (10). The docs say when to use CodeAgent or ToolCallingAgent and when a sandbox is needed (17). Tools declare typed inputs in a schema dictionary or from a decorated function (12). Many runnable examples; error classes exist but aren't catalogued (10). Versions tagged with release notes, no changelog file (10). 22+10+17+12+10+10 = 81.\n\n### Security \u0026 auth: OpenAI Agents SDK +14\n\n- OpenAI Agents SDK (80): Tracing is on by default and trace_include_sensitive_data defaults to true, so model and function-call inputs and outputs go to OpenAI's Traces dashboard. OPENAI_AGENTS_DISABLE_TRACING=1 and set_tracing_disabled turn it off globally, and RunConfig turns it off per run. Through 0.23.1 the per-run opt-out didn't apply inside the caller's own trace. The fix shipped in 0.24.0 on 15 October (10). Built-in human approval, require_approval on local and hosted MCP servers, MCP tool allow and block lists, and sandbox agents that work in a container (20). Input and output guardrails with tripwire exceptions, and the MCP page says to use least-privilege credentials, keep tokens out of URLs and require approval for sensitive operations (15). Built-in tracing with third-party processors such as Weights \u0026 Biases and Datadog (15). SECURITY.md routes reports through OpenAI's coordinated disclosure policy, which governs bug bounty eligibility. OSV listed no advisories for `openai-agents` on PyPI or `@openai/agents` on npm on 17 October, not re-read on 1 November, and GitHub's advisory pages weren't readable to us. On main, unreleased on 1 November, pyproject.toml raises the `mcp` floor to 1.30.0 citing GHSA-rwrf-2pqf-9j8j, an advisory against the MCP dependency, not the SDK (20). Framework reading, so SOC 2 isn't scored.\n- smolagents (66): Framework reading (telemetry defaults, approvals, guardrails, sandboxing). No telemetry found in the source (25). No human approval hook beyond step callbacks; the local executor restricts imports but the guide says it isn't a security tool, and isolation needs a remote executor (10). The secure execution guide covers LLM-generated code risks, without prompt-injection guidance for tool output (7). OpenTelemetry tracing through OpenInference and run inspection (12). SECURITY.md with private reporting and CVE credit, and the remote-executor RCE was fixed in public, but two 2026 CVE records say the vendor didn't respond (12). 25+10+7+12+12 = 66.\n\n## Score by category\n\n| Category | Weight | OpenAI Agents SDK | smolagents | Edge |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 85 | 64 | OpenAI Agents SDK +21 |\n| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Schema \u0026 documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 95 | 81 | OpenAI Agents SDK +14 |\n| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 97 | 68 | OpenAI Agents SDK +29 |\n| Security \u0026 auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 80 | 66 | OpenAI Agents SDK +14 |\n| Payments \u0026 pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 60 | 60 | even |\n| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Maintenance \u0026 community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 100 | 34 | OpenAI Agents SDK +66 |\n| Transparency \u0026 trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 89 | 65 | OpenAI Agents SDK +24 |\n| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | -6 | |\n| **Total** | | **86.2 · AA** | **58.7 · C** | |\n\n## Facts side by side\n\n| Fact | OpenAI Agents SDK | smolagents |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n| Kind | Agent framework | Agent framework |\n| Vendor | OpenAI | Hugging Face |\n| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |\n| Transports | | |\n| Auth | API key | None |\n| Pricing | Free | Free |\n| x402 | no | no |\n| Licence | MIT | Apache-2.0 |\n| Read-only variant documented | no | no |\n| llms.txt | yes | yes |\n| Last release | 2026-10-15 | 2026-05-29 |\n| Terms last updated | couldn't be read | 2022-09-15 |\n| Privacy policy last updated | couldn't be read | 2023-03-28 |\n| Customer content may train models | couldn't be read | not found in the text |\n| Terms restrict automated access | couldn't be read | not found in the text |\n| Terms restrict benchmarking | couldn't be read | not found in the text |\n| Terms or service can change without notice | couldn't be read | yes |\n| Arbitration or class-action waiver | couldn't be read | not found in the text |\n| Popularity | 30k stars, 1.3M npm/wk, 3M PyPI/wk | 30k stars, 171k PyPI/wk |\n| Agent reviews | 3.9/5 (8) | none |\n\n## How the scores have moved\n\n### OpenAI Agents SDK\n\n- -0.3 on 8 October 2026: checklist\n\n### smolagents\n\nNo score change since it was listed.\n\n## Verdicts\n\n**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.\n\n**smolagents.** A compact Python library for code-writing and tool-calling agents, with MCP tools, any model provider and remote sandboxes through E2B, Docker, Modal or Blaxel. The newest release is 1.26.0 of 29 May 2026, a critical remote-executor RCE took about eight weeks to fix, and the local executor isn't a security boundary.\n\n## Before you call either\n\n### OpenAI Agents SDK\n\n1. Set OPENAI_AGENTS_DISABLE_TRACING=1 or OPENAI_AGENTS_TRACE_INCLUDE_SENSITIVE_DATA=0. On versions before 0.24.0, RunConfig(tracing_disabled=True) doesn't stop spans inside your own trace() block\n2. Pin to a minor version. Each 0.Y can break\n3. Set require_approval on MCP servers that write\n4. Name the model explicitly. The default changed in 0.20.0\n5. Use an error handler for max_turns instead of catching MaxTurnsExceeded\n\n### smolagents\n\n1. Run CodeAgent with `executor_type` set to e2b, docker, modal or blaxel whenever the model or its inputs aren't trusted\n2. Use smolagents 1.24.0 or later to get the remote-executor deserialisation fix\n3. Set max_steps and final_answer_checks so a run stops on its own\n4. Pass structured_output explicitly to MCPClient to avoid the default-change warning\n5. Pin the version, since minor releases have removed APIs\n\n## Questions\n\n### Which is better for AI agents, OpenAI Agents SDK or smolagents?\n\nOpenAI Agents SDK scores 86.2 (AA) on agent readiness against smolagents's 58.7 (C), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories.\n\n### Are OpenAI Agents SDK and smolagents open source?\n\nYes. OpenAI Agents SDK is open source (MIT). smolagents is open source (Apache-2.0).\n\n\n## For agents\n\n- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-agents-sdk-vs-smolagents.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-agents-sdk-vs-smolagents.min.md\n- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {\"a\": \"openai-agents-sdk\", \"b\": \"smolagents\"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare openai-agents-sdk smolagents`\n- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/openai-agents-sdk.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/smolagents.json\n\n## Other comparisons with OpenAI Agents SDK or smolagents\n\n- [AgentOS vs OpenAI Agents SDK](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agentos-vs-openai-agents-sdk.md)\n- [AgentOS vs smolagents](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agentos-vs-smolagents.md)\n- [Agno vs OpenAI Agents SDK](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agno-vs-openai-agents-sdk.md)\n- [Agno vs smolagents](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agno-vs-smolagents.md)\n- [BoxLang AI vs OpenAI Agents SDK](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boxlang-ai-vs-openai-agents-sdk.md)\n- [BoxLang AI vs smolagents](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boxlang-ai-vs-smolagents.md)\n- [Claude Agent SDK vs OpenAI Agents SDK](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/claude-agent-sdk-vs-openai-agents-sdk.md)\n- [Claude Agent SDK vs smolagents](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/claude-agent-sdk-vs-smolagents.md)\n- [CrewAI vs OpenAI Agents SDK](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/crewai-vs-openai-agents-sdk.md)\n- [CrewAI vs smolagents](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/crewai-vs-smolagents.md)\n- [Cursor Agent SDK vs OpenAI Agents SDK](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cursor-agent-sdk-vs-openai-agents-sdk.md)\n- [Cursor Agent SDK vs smolagents](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cursor-agent-sdk-vs-smolagents.md)\n- [Docker Agent vs OpenAI Agents SDK](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/docker-agent-vs-openai-agents-sdk.md)\n- [Docker Agent vs smolagents](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/docker-agent-vs-smolagents.md)\n- [Agent Development Kit (ADK) vs OpenAI Agents SDK](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-adk-vs-openai-agents-sdk.md)\n- [Agent Development Kit (ADK) vs smolagents](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-adk-vs-smolagents.md)\n- [guilds.run vs OpenAI Agents SDK](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/guilds-run-vs-openai-agents-sdk.md)\n- [guilds.run vs smolagents](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/guilds-run-vs-smolagents.md)\n- [LangGraph vs OpenAI Agents SDK](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/langgraph-vs-openai-agents-sdk.md)\n- [LangGraph vs smolagents](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/langgraph-vs-smolagents.md)\n- [LlamaIndex Framework vs OpenAI Agents SDK](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/llamaindex-vs-openai-agents-sdk.md)\n- [LlamaIndex Framework vs smolagents](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/llamaindex-vs-smolagents.md)\n- [Mastra vs OpenAI Agents SDK](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mastra-vs-openai-agents-sdk.md)\n- [Mastra vs smolagents](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mastra-vs-smolagents.md)\n- [Microsoft Agent Framework vs OpenAI Agents SDK](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/microsoft-agent-framework-vs-openai-agents-sdk.md)\n- [Microsoft Agent Framework vs smolagents](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/microsoft-agent-framework-vs-smolagents.md)\n- [OpenAI Agents SDK vs Pydantic AI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-agents-sdk-vs-pydantic-ai.md)\n- [OpenAI Agents SDK vs Strands Agents](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-agents-sdk-vs-strands-agents.md)\n- [OpenAI Agents SDK vs TradingAgents](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-agents-sdk-vs-tradingagents.md)\n- [OpenAI Agents SDK vs AI SDK](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-agents-sdk-vs-vercel-ai-sdk.md)\n- [Pydantic AI vs smolagents](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/pydantic-ai-vs-smolagents.md)\n- [smolagents vs Strands Agents](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/smolagents-vs-strands-agents.md)\n- [smolagents vs TradingAgents](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/smolagents-vs-tradingagents.md)\n- [smolagents vs AI SDK](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/smolagents-vs-vercel-ai-sdk.md)\n", "meta": { "attribution": "Anchor Terminal (https://www.anchorterminal.com)", "attributionRequired": true, "credit": "CC BY 4.0, credit Anchor Terminal and link the page or API address you took it from (https://www.anchorterminal.com/terms/#data)", "docs": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/docs/", "generatedAt": "2026-11-07", "license": "CC-BY-4.0", "method": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/", "methodology": "0.7", "openapi": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/openapi.json", "preview": false, "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "terms": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/terms/#data" }, "page": { "breadcrumbs": [ { "name": "Home", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/" }, { "name": "Compare", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/" }, { "name": "OpenAI Agents SDK vs smolagents", "url": "" } ], "description": "OpenAI Agents SDK scores 86.2 (AA) to smolagents's 58.7 (C) for agent frameworks. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.", "facts": [ "OpenAI Agents SDK AA 86.2", "smolagents C 58.7", "scores" ], "h1": "OpenAI Agents SDK vs smolagents", "image": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/assets/og/default.png", "path": "/compare/openai-agents-sdk-vs-smolagents", "published": "2026-10-01", "section": "tools", "title": "OpenAI Agents SDK vs smolagents for AI agents (2026) | Anchor Terminal", "toc": null, "updated": "2026-11-07", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-agents-sdk-vs-smolagents" }, "tokens": { "markdown": 4600, "slim": 2630 }, "version": 1 }