Key takeaways
- 40K+ GitHub stars (40,629 as of June 2026) — the highest of any agent framework in this comparison — with v2.6.13 shipped June 10, 2026 and 424 contributors, all under Apache 2.0
- AgentOS pairs a FastAPI runtime with a browser-based control plane that connects directly to your runtime — Agno stores no data except your endpoint, so sessions, memory, and traces stay in your own database
- Modest funding ($5.4M disclosed) and a usage-light pricing model — free local control plane, $150/month Pro for live deployments — make it the privacy-first counterweight to platform-heavy rivals like LangSmith
FAQ
What is Agno?
Agno is an open-source Python framework for building multi-agent systems (agents, teams, workflows), paired with AgentOS, a FastAPI-based runtime and control plane for running them in production inside your own infrastructure.
How much does Agno cost?
The framework is free (Apache 2.0). AgentOS has a free tier with a local control plane; the Pro tier is $150/month (4 seats included, $30/month per extra seat, $95/month per live connection), and Enterprise is custom.
What models does Agno support?
Agno is model-agnostic, supporting 30+ providers behind one interface, including OpenAI, Anthropic, Google Gemini, and open-source models.
How is Agno different from LangChain?
LangChain monetizes through LangSmith, a hosted observability platform that ingests your traces; Agno's AgentOS keeps all sessions, memory, and traces in your own database, with a control plane that connects from your browser straight to your runtime.
Executive Summary
Agno bills itself as an "Agent Framework and High-Performance Runtime for Multi-Agent Systems" — an open-source Python SDK for agents, teams, and workflows, plus AgentOS, a FastAPI-based production runtime with a control-plane UI.[1] The framework, rebranded from Phidata in January 2025, has 40K+ GitHub stars (40,629 as of June 2026) — the highest star count of any agent framework in this comparison — under an Apache 2.0 license, with 424 contributors, 196 releases, and v2.6.13 shipped June 10, 2026.[2]
The differentiator is the privacy architecture: AgentOS runs entirely in your VPC or data center, and the control plane connects from your browser directly to your runtime — "Agno stores no data except for your runtime endpoint."[3] Against that technical strength sits a comparatively small company: $5.4M in disclosed funding from GreatPoint Ventures, Surface Ventures, and Zero Prime Ventures, far below the war chests of LangChain or CrewAI.[4]
| Attribute | Value |
|---|---|
| Company | Agno Inc. (formerly Phidata) |
| Founded | 2023 (rebranded to Agno, Jan 2025)[4] |
| Funding | $5.4M disclosed (GreatPoint Ventures, Surface Ventures, Zero Prime Ventures)[4] |
| GitHub Stars | 40,629 (June 2026)[2] |
| License | Apache 2.0[2] |
| Headquarters | New York, NY[4] |
Product Overview
Agno splits into two halves: the open-source framework for building agents, and AgentOS for running them. The framework provides composable primitives — agents with tools, memory, and knowledge; teams of agents; and workflows — that are model-agnostic across 30+ providers behind one interface.[1] AgentOS turns that code into a production service: a pre-built FastAPI app with 50+ API endpoints (SSE and WebSocket streaming), session and memory persistence, database-stored traces, JWT-based RBAC, cron scheduling, and human-approval workflows.[2]
The pitch is time-to-production: Agno's marketing claims building on AgentOS takes "1 afternoon" versus roughly 4 months of building equivalent infrastructure yourself.[1] Notably, the AgentOS runtime is not Agno-framework-exclusive — the docs list support for agents built with the Agno SDK, Claude Agent SDK, LangGraph, and DSPy.[3]
Key Capabilities
| Capability | Description |
|---|---|
| Agents | Composable agents with tools, memory, knowledge, and structured outputs |
| Teams | Multi-agent collaboration with shared context |
| Workflows | Deterministic orchestration with state and control flow |
| AgentOS Runtime | FastAPI app with 50+ endpoints, streaming, durable long-running sessions[3] |
| Control Plane | Browser UI for chat, testing, monitoring, and session/trace inspection[5] |
| Toolkits | 100+ pre-built tool integrations plus MCP sources[2] |
| Governance | Guardrails, approval workflows, tool-level access restrictions[3] |
Product Surfaces
| Surface | Description | Availability |
|---|---|---|
| Agno framework | Open-source Python SDK (Apache 2.0) | GA (v2.6.x) |
| AgentOS runtime | Self-hosted FastAPI runtime, deploys as a container | GA |
| Control plane (local) | Free local UI for chat, sessions, knowledge, evals | GA (Free tier)[6] |
| Control plane (live) | Hosted control-plane access for production runtimes | GA (Pro tier)[6] |
| Chat interfaces | Slack, Discord, Telegram, WhatsApp | GA[5] |
Technical Architecture
AgentOS is a FastAPI-based runtime paired with a control-plane UI. The runtime executes agents, teams, and workflows via API requests and maintains "long-running sessions that last from minutes to days to weeks" with "durability across restarts, replicas, and infrastructure failures."[3]
The control plane connects from your browser directly to the runtime with zero data intermediaries — no conversations, logs, or metrics are sent to Agno. Sessions, memory, knowledge, and traces are stored in your own database, which Agno positions as eliminating vendor lock-in, retention costs, and egress fees.[3]
Key Technical Details
| Aspect | Detail |
|---|---|
| Deployment | Self-hosted — Docker container in your VPC or data center[5] |
| Model(s) | Model-agnostic: OpenAI, Anthropic, Google Gemini, open-source — 30+ providers[1] |
| Integrations | 100+ toolkits; context providers for Slack, Drive, wikis, MCP; Slack/Discord/Telegram/WhatsApp interfaces[2] |
| Observability | Database-stored traces, OpenTelemetry-based, audit logging[2] |
| Security | JWT-based RBAC with hierarchical scopes, multi-tenant support[3] |
| Open Source | Yes (Apache 2.0); live control plane is the commercial layer[6] |
Strengths
- Largest framework community by stars — 40,629 GitHub stars as of June 2026, ahead of every other agent framework in this comparison, with 424 contributors and 196 releases[2]
- Privacy by design — control plane connects browser-to-runtime; Agno stores nothing except your endpoint, so all agent data lives in your database[3]
- Full production runtime included — 50+ API endpoints, streaming, durable sessions, scheduling, and RBAC ship with the open-source project rather than being platform-gated[2]
- Framework-agnostic runtime — AgentOS runs agents built with Claude Agent SDK, LangGraph, and DSPy, not just Agno's own SDK[3]
- Team chat surfaces out of the box — Slack, Discord, Telegram, and WhatsApp interfaces let non-developers talk to deployed agents[5]
- Permissive license — Apache 2.0 across the framework and runtime[2]
- Predictable pricing — flat $150/month Pro with no per-trace or per-execution metering[6]
Cautions
- Thin capitalization — $5.4M disclosed funding versus ~$160M for LangChain and $18M for CrewAI; long-term resourcing is the open question[4]
- Python only — no official TypeScript SDK, limiting Node.js teams
- No disclosed enterprise adoption metrics — unlike CrewAI's Fortune 500 claims, Agno publishes no download, workflow, or customer counts[1]
- Per-connection fees add up — each live connection is $95/month on Pro, so multi-runtime deployments can outgrow the flat tier quickly[6]
- No Microsoft Teams surface — Slack, Discord, Telegram, and WhatsApp are listed; Teams is not[5]
- Brand churn — the Phidata-to-Agno rebrand (Jan 2025) means older tutorials, integrations, and search results fragment across two names
- Young commercial layer — AgentOS is the v2-era product (2025); the control plane and pricing model have less production track record than the framework itself
Pricing & Licensing
| Tier | Price | Includes |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | Open-source framework, local AgentOS control plane, chat, session monitoring, knowledge management, evals, community support |
| Pro | $150/month | Everything in Free + live control-plane access; 4 seats included, $30/month per extra seat, $95/month per live connection; unlimited monitoring, retention, knowledge, memories, chats |
| Enterprise | Custom | Everything in Pro + dedicated Slack channel, SLA-backed support, custom SSO/RBAC, custom agent solutions, self-hosted control plane |
All pricing as of June 2026.[6]
Licensing model: Open source (Apache 2.0) framework and runtime; commercial hosted control plane[6]
Hidden costs:
- $95/month per live connection scales linearly with the number of production runtimes
- LLM provider costs are separate (bring-your-own-keys across 30+ providers)
- Self-hosting AgentOS means you carry the infrastructure and database costs the architecture is designed around
Competitive Positioning
Direct Competitors
| Competitor | Differentiation |
|---|---|
| LangChain/LangGraph | LangChain monetizes hosted observability (LangSmith) with five usage meters; Agno keeps traces in your database with flat pricing |
| CrewAI | CrewAI leads on enterprise adoption proof (Fortune 500 claims); Agno leads on stars and self-hosted privacy architecture |
| Mastra | Mastra is TypeScript-native; Agno is Python with a more complete self-hosted runtime |
| AutoGen | AutoGen is research-oriented and Microsoft-backed; Agno ships an opinionated production runtime |
When to Choose Agno Over Alternatives
- Choose Agno when: data privacy is non-negotiable and you want a production runtime (API, RBAC, tracing, scheduling) without a hosted-platform dependency
- Choose LangChain when: you need maximum integrations, TypeScript support, and the largest ecosystem
- Choose CrewAI when: you want enterprise support with proven Fortune 500 deployment patterns
- Choose Mastra when: your team is TypeScript-first
Ideal Customer Profile
Best fit:
- Teams in regulated industries (healthcare, finance, government) that cannot send agent traces to a vendor
- Python teams that want agents, teams, and workflows plus a deployable runtime from one project
- Organizations exposing agents to employees through Slack, Discord, Telegram, or WhatsApp
- Companies that prefer flat, predictable pricing over usage-metered platforms
Poor fit:
- TypeScript/Node.js development teams
- Buyers who need vendor-published enterprise case studies and adoption proof
- Teams that want a fully managed cloud (AgentOS is self-hosted by design)
- Organizations betting on the most heavily capitalized vendor
Viability Assessment
| Factor | Assessment |
|---|---|
| Financial Health | Adequate — $5.4M disclosed; small raise relative to category leaders[4] |
| Market Position | Strong on community (most-starred framework at 40.6K), unproven on enterprise revenue[2] |
| Innovation Pace | Rapid — 196 releases, v2.6.13 shipped June 10, 2026[2] |
| Community/Ecosystem | Large — 40K+ stars, 5.5K forks, 424 contributors[2] |
| Long-term Outlook | Cautiously positive — strong technical position, thin capitalization |
Agno has out-starred far better-funded rivals, and the self-hosted AgentOS architecture is a genuine wedge: it monetizes convenience (the live control plane) rather than data gravity. The risk is commercial: a $5.4M raise against unicorn-funded competitors means Agno must convert community into paying Pro/Enterprise customers before the funding gap tells.
Bottom Line
Agno is the privacy-first choice among agent frameworks: the most-starred framework in the category, an Apache 2.0 license across both SDK and runtime, and a control-plane architecture that keeps every trace and conversation in your own database. AgentOS makes it more than a framework — it is a credible self-hosted alternative to platform-dependent stacks.
Recommended for: Python teams that want production agent infrastructure — API, chat surfaces, RBAC, tracing, scheduling — fully inside their own VPC, especially in privacy-sensitive industries.
Not recommended for: TypeScript teams, buyers who need a managed cloud, or organizations that weight vendor capitalization and published enterprise references heavily.
Outlook: The framework's community trajectory is excellent — 40K+ stars and weekly v2.6.x releases as of June 2026.[2] The watch item is monetization: flat $150/month Pro pricing is buyer-friendly but revenue-light, and with $5.4M disclosed funding Agno has less runway than any major rival.[4] If AgentOS converts even a fraction of the framework's community into live deployments, Agno becomes the default self-hosted agent stack; if not, it remains a beloved framework with an underfunded business attached.
Research by Ry Walker Research • methodology