Google Agent Development Kit (ADK)vsMicrosoft Agent Framework
Generated from the two spec rows. Green marks the better value where a spec has a clear direction. Everything else is just different.
Google Agent Development Kit (ADK)
Google · Agent framework
OSSMCP
Panel
7.16 spec wins
- Reliability
- 7.0
- Usefulness
- 7.0
- Cost
- 7.3
- Longevity
- 7.0
“Ships Google Search grounding built in, so the agent can at least cite where it went wrong.”
Microsoft Agent Framework
Microsoft · Agent framework
OSS
Panel
7.10 spec wins
- Reliability
- 7.0
- Usefulness
- 6.7
- Cost
- 7.2
- Longevity
- 7.7
“Its workflow engine advertises time travel, which is a confident name for being able to load an old checkpoint.”
Spec by spec
| Spec | Google Agent Development Kit (ADK) | Microsoft Agent Framework |
|---|---|---|
| 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 | Yes | No |
| MCP server | Yes | No |
| Capabilities | ||
| Runs terminal commands | Yes | No |
| Multi-file edits | No | No |
| Git operations | No | No |
| Browser control | Yes | No |
| Sandboxed execution | No | No |
| Multi-agent orchestration | Yes | Yes |
| Headless / CI mode | Yes | Yes |
| Models | ||
| Backbone | Gemini, any LiteLLM model, Ollama | any |
| Bring your own model | Yes | Yes |
| Local models | Yes | No |
| Cost | ||
| Pricing model | byok | byok |
| Starts at | $0/mo | n/a |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Bring your own key | Yes | Yes |
| Openness | ||
| Open source | Yes | Yes |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| GitHub stars | 21,692 | 13,904 |
Which one would each critic pick
| Critic | Google Agent Development Kit (ADK) | Microsoft Agent Framework | Pick |
|---|---|---|---|
| El Juez | — | — | not enough reviews |
| El Amigo | 7.0 | 7.3 | Microsoft Agent Framework — Pick Microsoft Agent Framework if the company runs on .NET and Azure; pick LangGraph if you are Python-only and would rather not acquire a cloud with your framework. |
| El Crítico | 6.8 | 6.5 | Google Agent Development Kit (ADK) — Every default points at Google: Gemini is the default model and the sample code hard-codes gemini-flash-latest; LiteLLM is the escape hatch, and escape hatches are what you use on a bad day. |
| El Profesor | 6.8 | 7.3 | Microsoft Agent Framework — Workflows are graphs with checkpointing and a time-travel facility, so a run can be replayed from a stored earlier state rather than restarted from the beginning. |
| La Inversora | 7.3 | 7.5 | Microsoft Agent Framework — The framework is free and the hosted deployment is two extra lines of code, which is the shortest funnel from open source to a cloud invoice anyone has built. |
| La Jefa | 7.3 | 7.8 | Microsoft Agent Framework — One framework covering both our .NET and Python teams means one training investment instead of two, and the vendor is already on a contract legal has signed. |
| El Hacker | 7.5 | 6.5 | Google Agent Development Kit (ADK) — Apache-2.0, McpToolset with StdioConnectionParams for any MCP server, expose my own tools as an MCP server, Ollama through LiteLLM, and go get google.golang.org/adk/v2 for the Go build. |
Picks are derived from each critic's own scores. Humans vote on matchups on the duels page.