Keywords AI
OpenAI Agents SDK vs Swarm
Compare OpenAI Agents SDK and Swarm side by side. Both are tools in the Agent Frameworks category.
Quick Comparison
| Category | Agent Frameworks | Agent Frameworks |
| Website | github.com | github.com |
How to Choose a Agent Frameworks Tool
Key criteria to evaluate when comparing Agent Frameworks solutions:
About OpenAI Agents SDK
The OpenAI Agents SDK is a lightweight Python framework for building multi-agent workflows with built-in tracing and guardrails. It provides primitives for defining agents with instructions and tools, orchestrating handoffs between agents, and implementing input/output guardrails for safety.
About Swarm
Swarm is OpenAI's experimental multi-agent orchestration framework that introduced the "handoff" and "routine" patterns for agent coordination. While marked as educational, its lightweight design — agents as instructions + functions with explicit handoffs between them — has become the dominant architectural pattern adopted across the industry for building multi-agent systems.
What is Agent Frameworks?
Developer frameworks and SDKs for building autonomous AI agents with tool use, planning, multi-step reasoning, and orchestration capabilities.
Browse all Agent Frameworks tools →Frequently Asked Questions
What is an AI agent framework?▾
An agent framework provides the building blocks for creating AI agents that can autonomously plan, use tools, and complete multi-step tasks. Instead of building tool use, memory, and orchestration from scratch, you get pre-built components that handle the common patterns.
Do I need a framework or can I build agents with raw API calls?▾
For simple single-tool agents, raw API calls work fine. Frameworks become valuable when you need multi-step planning, tool orchestration, error recovery, memory, or multi-agent coordination. They save significant development time for complex agent architectures.
Which agent framework should I choose?▾
LangChain and LlamaIndex are the most mature with the largest ecosystems. CrewAI is best for multi-agent workflows. Vercel AI SDK is ideal for TypeScript/Next.js applications. Evaluate based on your language preference, use case complexity, and integration needs.