Agno vs Pydantic AI (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Pydantic AI grades higher than Agno: 3.0 against 2.2 out of 4.0.
Checked Nov 13, 2026 · graded Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Pydantic AI grades higher on value for money and the free plan. They get the same grade on features, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Agno
Open-source agent runtime with a hosted control plane
Which one is for you
Pick Agno if
- Fits if you want agents running in your own cloud with a console to watch them
- Works for teams that already have infrastructure and want a control plane on top
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if you want a live control plane, at $150 a month for 1 connection and 3 seats
- Skip it if you do not want to host a runtime and pay for infrastructure
- Tight if you grow: extra seats are $30 and extra connections $95 a month
- Watch out: SAML SSO is a $300 a month add-on on Pro
- Watch out: end-user audit logs and custom RBAC need Enterprise
Pick Pydantic AI if
- Fits if you write Python and want agent inputs and outputs type-checked
- Works for teams already using Pydantic that want to switch model providers without a rewrite
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want a visual builder, because it is a code library only
- Not for you if you do not write Python, as there is no other language or no-code route
- Watch out: Logfire observability is separate, with Team at $49 and Growth at $249 a month
- Watch out: the AI Gateway adds a 5% markup on Personal and Team, 3% on Growth, unless you bring your own keys
- Tight if you need a paid support contract, since the SDK has no paid support tier
How we grade them
| 2.2GPAAgnoFair | 3.0GPAPydantic AIVery good | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | DPro is $150 a month, the start of the category's dearest tenth, for one live connection and three seats. The runtime is free but you host it. | AThe SDK is free under the MIT licence, so it sits well under the category's $19.99 cheapest-quarter start. Your model provider bills you directly. |
| Free plan and trial | BThe free plan has no usage cap and a control plane for a local AgentOS. Going live is the paid step. | ANo paid plan exists for the SDK itself and nothing is capped, so everything it does is free. Only your model usage costs money. |
| Features | BRuntime, agents, teams, workflows, traces, evals and approvals. Nothing in the listing shows a gap in the core job. | BTyped agents, many model providers, evals, graphs, memory, guardrails and durable execution via Temporal, DBOS and Prefect. Nothing in the listing shows a gap in the core job of building agents in code. |
| Ease of use | DNo rating on record. You run the runtime on your own infrastructure and write code. | DNo rating on record, and it is a Python library: you write code, manage dependencies and wire up your own tools. No visual editor. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb control plane and API or MCP serving, with Slack, Discord, ChatGPT, Claude and Cursor links. No desktop or phone app. | BRuns wherever Python runs, with MCP, AG-UI and a CLI, and works with OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, AWS Bedrock and Ollama. It is not an app, so there is no phone or desktop client. |
| Best for | self-run agent runtime with paid control plane | typed Python agents on any model |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Agno and Pydantic AI. How we grade
Price against what you get
Agno starts at $150 a month and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Pydantic AI has no paid plan and scores 2.3.
They score the same, and Pydantic AI starts $150 a month lower. Of the other AI agents on the chart, 36 score higher than Agno for less, and none scores higher than Pydantic AI for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
At a glance
| Agno | Pydantic AI | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free |
| Starts at | $150 per month for the Pro control plane | Free |
| Free plan | $0 a month, unlimited usage and retention, and a control plane for a local AgentOS. | The SDK is free and MIT-licensed; you pay your model providers directly. |
| Free trial | Free trial of Pro offered; length not stated on the page | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Agno | Pydantic |
| Price read from | agno.com | pydantic.dev |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Nov 13, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Agno
- The paid Pro plan covers one live AgentOS connection and three seats; more cost $95 and $30 a month each.
- SAML SSO is a $300 a month add-on on Pro.
- You run the runtime on your own infrastructure, so hosting and model costs are yours.
- Governance features such as end-user audit logs and custom RBAC need Enterprise.
Pydantic AI
- It is a code library for Python; there is no hosted builder or visual editor.
- Observability through Logfire is a separate product: the free Personal plan covers 10M records a month, with Team at $49 and Growth at $249 a month.
- The AI Gateway charges a markup on built-in providers (5% on Personal and Team, 3% on Growth) unless you bring your own keys.
- Model usage is billed by whichever provider you connect.
Key features
Agno
- AgentOS runtime
- A runtime that serves agents as an API for your product and as an MCP server that ChatGPT and Claude can connect to.
- Control plane
- A web console for chat, sessions, traces, memory, knowledge, metrics, evaluations, approvals and a scheduler.
- Agents, teams and workflows
- The demo environment shows single agents, teams of agents and step-based workflows, such as an invoice flow with an approval gate.
- Runs in your own cloud
- The vendor says you own your data and compute, so it does not meter usage, storage or egress.
- Works with other frameworks
- The Free plan's control plane accepts agents built with the Agno SDK, LangGraph or Claude Code.
Pydantic AI
- Typed agent loop
- Agents with typed dependencies and structured output, where any supported model is a string swap and another can be set as a fallback.
- Many model providers
- The docs list providers including OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, AWS Bedrock, Mistral, Groq, Ollama and OpenRouter.
- Harness capabilities
- Add-ons for memory, guardrails, sub-agents, planning, context management and persistence, up to a complete coding agent.
- Evals and graphs
- Pydantic Evals grades outputs and tool-call trajectories, and Pydantic Graph gives typed control flow, as separate open-source packages.
- Durable execution and interfaces
- Integrations with Temporal, DBOS, Prefect and others for long-running work, plus MCP, AG-UI, Vercel AI and a CLI.
Plans
Agno
Free$0
Control plane for a local AgentOS with chat, traces, memory, evaluations and templates, plus community support.
Pro$150
per month for 1 live AgentOS connection and 3 seats
Control plane for a live AgentOS, basic role-based access and email support. Extra seats $30, extra connections $95 a month.
EnterpriseCustom
End-user management and audit logs, custom RBAC, Slack Connect, an SLA and security reviews.
Pydantic AI
Open source$0
Install the Python package and run agents in your own code; no paid plan exists for the SDK itself.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Agno or Pydantic AI?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Pydantic AI is cheaper to start with: it is free, against $150 a month for Agno. Agno starts at $150 per month for the Pro control plane, and Pydantic AI is free.
Which has a free plan, Agno or Pydantic AI?
As of Nov 13, 2026, both Agno and Pydantic AI have a free plan.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.