Claude Agent SDK vs OpenAI Agents SDK
Claude Agent SDK and OpenAI Agents SDK side by side: what each one is, verified plan pricing and install commands where we have them, and the full review of each.
Claude Agent SDK
Anthropic's SDK for building agents on the same tools, agent loop, and context management that power Claude Code. Python and TypeScript. Subagents, hooks, MCP, and permissions.
OpenAI Agents SDK
Python and TypeScript framework for multi-agent workflows. Agent handoffs, tool use, guardrails, sessions, tracing. Provider-agnostic, supporting the OpenAI Responses and Chat Completions APIs plus 100+ other LLMs.
At a glance
| Field | | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | AI Frameworks | AI Frameworks |
| Website | docs.anthropic.com | openai.com |
| Pricing | Anthropic API key - pay per token at Claude API rates; Amazon Bedrock, Claude Platform on AWS, Google Cloud Agent Platform, or Microsoft Foundry - billed through that cloud account; claude.ai login and plan rate limits - not allowed for third-party products unless previously approved by Anthropic | Agents SDK - free and open source under MIT (Python and TypeScript); Models - not included; the SDK calls OpenAI models by default, or other providers through the beta Any-LLM and LiteLLM adapters |
| Install | npm install @anthropic-ai/claude-agent-sdk or pip install claude-agent-sdk or uv add claude-agent-sdk | pip install openai-agents or uv add openai-agents or npm install @openai/agents zod |
| Models | Claude models only. Set the model option or call setModel() with an alias (opus, sonnet, haiku) or a full model ID; on the Anthropic API the aliases resolve to Opus 5.5, Sonnet 5.5 and Haiku 5.5, while Claude Platform on AWS, Amazon Bedrock and Google Cloud Agent Platform resolve sonnet and haiku to older versions and Microsoft Foundry resolves all three aliases to older versions. | An agent with no model set runs on gpt-5.6-luna, with reasoning effort none and low verbosity. You can override that per agent, per run through RunConfig, or for everything with the OPENAI_DEFAULT_MODEL environment variable. Non-OpenAI models run through the Any-LLM and LiteLLM adapters, which are best-effort betas, and MultiProvider can route on model-name prefixes. |
| Last verified | October 26, 2026 | October 26, 2026 |
In Depth
Claude Agent SDK
The Claude Agent SDK gives you the same tools, agent loop, and context management that power Claude Code, programmable in Python and TypeScript. Built-in tools read, write, and edit files and run commands; hooks run your own code at key points in the agent lifecycle; subagents take focused subtasks; MCP connects external tools and data; permissions control which tools run automatically and which need approval; and sessions can be resumed or forked. It also loads skills, commands, and memory from a project's .claude/ directory, just like Claude Code. It competes with OpenAI's Agents SDK and LangChain. I use it when building Python-based agents that need reliability and structured workflows.
OpenAI Agents SDK
The OpenAI Agents SDK (the production successor to Swarm) is a minimal Python framework for building multi-agent systems. Core concepts: Agents (an LLM + instructions + tools), Handoffs (agents delegating to specialists), Guardrails (input/output validation), and Tracing (built-in observability). It's deliberately lightweight - no heavy abstractions or state management. You define agents as simple Python objects, wire them together with handoffs, and the SDK handles the orchestration. It works with any OpenAI model and supports streaming. Good for building customer service bots, research agents, and workflow automation.
FAQ
Answers taken from each tool's verified fact sheet, with the date it was last checked.
How much does Claude Agent SDK cost?
As of October 26, 2026: Anthropic API key - pay per token at Claude API rates; Amazon Bedrock, Claude Platform on AWS, Google Cloud Agent Platform, or Microsoft Foundry - billed through that cloud account; claude.ai login and plan rate limits - not allowed for third-party products unless previously approved by Anthropic. Source: Agent SDK overview, Agent SDK quickstart, Model configuration, TypeScript SDK CHANGELOG.
How do I install Claude Agent SDK?
Official install commands as of October 26, 2026: npm install @anthropic-ai/claude-agent-sdk or pip install claude-agent-sdk or uv add claude-agent-sdk.
Which models does Claude Agent SDK use?
As of October 26, 2026: Claude models only. Set the model option or call setModel() with an alias (opus, sonnet, haiku) or a full model ID; on the Anthropic API the aliases resolve to Opus 5.5, Sonnet 5.5 and Haiku 5.5, while Claude Platform on AWS, Amazon Bedrock and Google Cloud Agent Platform resolve sonnet and haiku to older versions and Microsoft Foundry resolves all three aliases to older versions.
How much does OpenAI Agents SDK cost?
As of October 26, 2026: Agents SDK - free and open source under MIT (Python and TypeScript); Models - not included; the SDK calls OpenAI models by default, or other providers through the beta Any-LLM and LiteLLM adapters. Source: openai/openai-agents-python README, openai-agents-python releases, Agents SDK models docs, openai/openai-agents-js README.
How do I install OpenAI Agents SDK?
Official install commands as of October 26, 2026: pip install openai-agents or uv add openai-agents or npm install @openai/agents zod.
Which models does OpenAI Agents SDK use?
As of October 26, 2026: An agent with no model set runs on gpt-5.6-luna, with reasoning effort none and low verbosity. You can override that per agent, per run through RunConfig, or for everything with the OPENAI_DEFAULT_MODEL environment variable. Non-OpenAI models run through the Any-LLM and LiteLLM adapters, which are best-effort betas, and MultiProvider can route on model-name prefixes.
