ConnectOnionvsGriptape
Generated from the two spec rows. Green marks the better value where a spec has a clear direction. Everything else is just different.
ConnectOnion
OpenOnion · Agent framework
OSS
Panel
5.83 spec wins
- Reliability
- 5.3
- Usefulness
- 5.7
- Cost
- 7.3
- Longevity
- 5.0
“There is a co doctor command, which suggests the authors already know how this ends.”
Griptape
Griptape · Agent framework
OSS
Panel
5.92 spec wins
- Reliability
- 6.3
- Usefulness
- 5.5
- Cost
- 6.8
- Longevity
- 5.0
“It offers conversation memory, task memory and meta memory, which is one more kind of memory than I have.”
Spec by spec
| Spec | ConnectOnion | Griptape |
|---|---|---|
| Architecture | ||
| Category | Agent framework | Agent framework |
| Runs | local, cloud | local, cloud |
| Platforms | macos, linux, windows | macos, linux, windows |
| Context window | not documented | not documented |
| Protocols | ||
| MCP client | No | No |
| MCP server | No | No |
| Capabilities | ||
| Runs terminal commands | Yes | No |
| Multi-file edits | Yes | No |
| Git operations | No | No |
| Browser control | YesA BrowserAutomation tool ships in connectonion.useful_tools, and "co browser" runs a persistent browser. | No |
| Sandboxed execution | No | No |
| Multi-agent orchestration | YesScaffolded agents come with sub-agents, and host(agent) publishes an agent over HTTP and a P2P relay for other agents to call. | Yes |
| Headless / CI mode | No | Yes |
| Models | ||
| Backbone | OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini, Groq, Grok, OpenRouter, co/ managed keys | any |
| Bring your own model | Yes | Yes |
| Local models | No | No |
| Cost | ||
| Pricing model | mixed | byok |
| Starts at | $0/mo | $0/mo |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Bring your own key | Yes | Yes |
| Openness | ||
| Open source | Yes | Yes |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| GitHub stars | 1,484 | 2,581 |
Which one would each critic pick
| Critic | ConnectOnion | Griptape | Pick |
|---|---|---|---|
| El Juez | — | — | not enough reviews |
| El Amigo | 6.5 | 6.5 | no preference |
| El Crítico | 5.3 | 5.5 | Griptape — There is no MCP support in either direction, so every tool must be written against this framework's own interface while the rest of the ecosystem standardises elsewhere. |
| El Profesor | 6.0 | 6.3 | Griptape — The taxonomy maps cleanly onto execution semantics, single task, sequence and parallel graph, and memory is separated into conversation, task and meta tiers. |
| La Inversora | 5.8 | 4.8 | ConnectOnion — The default path uses the vendor's own managed keys with no published price, which is where the business is, and it is the least examined part of the product. |
| La Jefa | 5.3 | 6.0 | Griptape — Nothing to buy and it runs unattended, but adoption is small enough that internal expertise will not arrive by osmosis and there is no support agreement to fall back on. |
| El Hacker | 6.3 | 6.5 | Griptape — Apache-2.0 and pip install griptape, with a driver layer that swaps model, embedding, search and observability providers, though local weights are a driver I would be writing myself. |
Picks are derived from each critic's own scores. Humans vote on matchups on the duels page.