smolagentsvsStirrup
Generated from the two spec rows. Green marks the better value where a spec has a clear direction. Everything else is just different.
smolagents
Hugging Face · Agent framework
OSSMCP
Panel
6.73 spec wins
- Reliability
- 6.2
- Usefulness
- 6.3
- Cost
- 8.0
- Longevity
- 6.3
“Ships a command-line tool called webagent, so the thousand lines also browse.”
Stirrup
Artificial Analysis · Agent framework
OSSMCP
Panel
6.82 spec wins
- Reliability
- 6.7
- Usefulness
- 6.5
- Cost
- 8.2
- Longevity
- 6.0
“The Python framework has a TypeScript twin called StirrupJS, because no agent library is allowed to exist in only one language.”
Spec by spec
| Spec | smolagents | Stirrup |
|---|---|---|
| Architecture | ||
| Category | Agent framework | Agent framework |
| Runs | local, sandbox | local, sandbox |
| Platforms | macos, linux, windows | macos, linux, windows |
| Context window | not documented | not documented |
| Protocols | ||
| MCP client | Yes | Yes |
| MCP server | No | No |
| Capabilities | ||
| Runs terminal commands | No | Yes |
| Multi-file edits | No | Yes |
| Git operations | No | No |
| Browser control | Yes | YesA browser extra adds online search and web-page fetching, not general browser automation. |
| Sandboxed execution | Yes | YesCode execution runs locally, in Docker or in an E2B sandbox, selected through optional install extras. |
| Multi-agent orchestration | Yes | No |
| Headless / CI mode | Yes | No |
| Models | ||
| Backbone | Hugging Face Inference providers, OpenAI, Anthropic, any LiteLLM model, Transformers, Ollama | any OpenAI-compatible API, LiteLLM, OpenRouter |
| Bring your own model | Yes | Yes |
| Local models | Yes | YesAny OpenAI-compatible base URL is supported, and LiteLLM adds routing to local runtimes. |
| Cost | ||
| Pricing model | byok | 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 | MIT |
| GitHub stars | 29,638 | 642 |
Which one would each critic pick
| Critic | smolagents | Stirrup | Pick |
|---|---|---|---|
| El Juez | — | — | not enough reviews |
| El Amigo | 7.0 | 7.3 | Stirrup — Pick it when you want an agent that stops and asks rather than guessing; pick a heavier framework if you want the workflow decided for you in advance. |
| El Crítico | 6.3 | 6.8 | Stirrup — Code execution runs locally by default, with Docker and E2B available through optional install extras, so the safe modes are the ones you have to remember to choose. |
| El Profesor | 6.3 | 6.5 | Stirrup — History is summarised automatically as the context limit approaches, which is compaction with a policy rather than truncation, and no evaluation of that policy is published. |
| La Inversora | 6.5 | 6.8 | Stirrup — Artificial Analysis sells independent model comparison, and this framework, at 578 stars, is a distribution asset for that business rather than a product with a price. |
| La Jefa | 6.3 | 5.8 | smolagents — As a dependency it costs nothing, has no support contract, and ships Hub integration that lets an engineer publish an agent as a public Space, which is the governance conversation to have first. |
| El Hacker | 8.0 | 8.0 | no preference |
Picks are derived from each critic's own scores. Humans vote on matchups on the duels page.