Mastra vs Pydantic AI (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Pydantic AI grades higher than Mastra: 3.0 against 2.8 out of 4.0.
Checked Nov 12, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Nov 12, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Pydantic AI grades higher on the free plan. They get the same grade on value for money, features, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Mastra
TypeScript framework for building and running AI agents
Which one is for you
Pick Mastra if
- Fits if you write TypeScript and want to build your own agents
- Works for teams that want to deploy agents on Vercel or Cloudflare
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if you want no-code, since building an agent means writing TypeScript
- Pricey if you grow, as past the allowance egress is $0.10 a GB and events $10 per 100K
- Watch out: RBAC, SSO and audit logs are Enterprise only, and the SOC 2 report starts at Team at $250
- Watch out: some repository folders (ee/) sit under a separate enterprise licence
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
| 2.8GPAMastraGood | 3.0GPAPydantic AIVery good | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | AThe framework is open source and the cloud has a free plan. Starter is $25 a workspace a month and Team $250. | 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 | BFree cloud plan: unlimited agents, users and deployments, 100K observability events and 15-day trace retention. A solo developer can live on that. | 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 | BAgents, workflows, memory, evals, MCP servers and deployment to many hosts. Nothing in the listing is missing for code-first agent work. | 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 store rating, and building an agent means writing TypeScript and running it yourself. | 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 with deployment to Vercel, Netlify and Cloudflare, and Next.js, React, Hono and Express listed. | 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 | TypeScript developers building their own agents | 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: Mastra and Pydantic AI. How we grade
Price against what you get
Mastra starts at $25 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 $25 a month lower. Of the other AI agents on the chart, 20 score higher than Mastra 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
- Mastra also covers workflow automation.
At a glance
| Mastra | Pydantic AI | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free |
| Starts at | $25 per workspace / month | Free |
| Free plan | Unlimited agents, users and deployments, 100K observability events, 1 GB egress, 5 connections and 15-day trace retention. | The SDK is free and MIT-licensed; you pay your model providers directly. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Mastra | Pydantic |
| Price read from | mastra.ai | pydantic.dev |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Nov 13, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Mastra
- It is a code framework, so building an agent means writing TypeScript; there is no no-code builder.
- Cloud usage past each plan's allowance is billed separately, for example $0.10 per GB of egress and $10 per 100K observability events.
- RBAC, SSO and audit logs are Enterprise only, and the SOC 2 report starts at the Team plan.
- Some directories in the repository are under a separate enterprise license (ee/), so not every file carries the main open-source terms.
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
Mastra
- Agents
- Typed agents are defined in code with instructions, a model, tools and runtime behavior in one place.
- Workflows
- Typed steps can be chained with retries and branches into workflows that a team can inspect.
- Memory
- Agents can keep durable context through thread-aware storage, semantic recall and an observational memory option.
- Observability and evals
- Traces, metrics and logs sit alongside evaluation tools such as scorers, datasets and experiments.
- MCP servers
- Agents, tools and other resources can be exposed as Model Context Protocol servers that any MCP-capable system can call.
- Deploy anywhere
- A Mastra app runs on any Node.js host or as a standalone server, with optional deployers for Vercel, Netlify and Cloudflare, or on Mastra Cloud.
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
Mastra
Free$0
Unlimited agents, users and deployments, 100K observability events, 1 GB egress, 5 connections and 15-day trace retention.
Starter$25
per workspace / month
One small dedicated project, usage alerts, 250K observability events, 10 GB egress, 10 connections and 60-day trace retention.
Team$250
per workspace / month
One small and two medium dedicated projects, a SOC 2 report, 10M observability events, 100 GB egress, 50 connections and 180-day trace retention.
EnterpriseCustom
RBAC, SSO, audit logs, custom allowances and connections, and dedicated support.
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, Mastra or Pydantic AI?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Pydantic AI is cheaper to start with: it is free, against $25 a month for Mastra. Mastra starts at $25 per workspace / month, and Pydantic AI is free.
Which has a free plan, Mastra or Pydantic AI?
As of Nov 13, 2026, both Mastra 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.