head to head · open source
agent-framework vs dbos-transact-py
agent-framework has 14,527 GitHub stars, 2,570 forks, 617 open issues and last shipped yesterday. dbos-transact-py has 1,666 stars, 116 forks, 4 open issues and last shipped yesterday. agent-framework leads on adoption by 772% (14,527 vs 1,666 stars). agent-framework is written in Python under MIT; dbos-transact-py is written in Python under MIT. agent-framework has attracted 18% as many forks as stars, dbos-transact-py 7%. dbos-transact-py was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 3 topic tags (orchestration, python, workflows), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| agent-framework | dbos-transact-py | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 15K | ★ 1.7K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | Python | Python |
| Last push | 2026-11-04 | 2026-11-04 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.6K | ⑂ 116 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick agent-framework if
- You weight community size — 15K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick dbos-transact-py if
- You want the dbos-transact-py feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and dbos-transact-py fits your workflow better
About agent-framework
Welcome to Microsoft Agent Framework! Microsoft Agent Framework (MAF) is an open, multi language framework for building production grade AI agents and multi agent workflows in .NET and Python . Microsoft Agent Framework is built for teams taking agents from prototype to production. It provides a consistent foundation for building, orchestrating, and operating agent systems across Python, .NET and Go, while keeping architecture choices open as requirements evolve, and supports a broad ecosystem including Microsoft Foundry, Azure OpenAI, OpenAI, and the GitHub Copilot SDK, with samples and hosting patterns for…
read the full agent-framework overview →
About dbos-transact-py
DBOS Transact: Lightweight Durable Workflows Documentation • Examples • Github • Discord What is DBOS? DBOS provides lightweight durable workflows built on top of Postgres. Instead of managing your own workflow orchestrator or task queue system, you can use DBOS to add durable workflows and queues to your program in just a few lines of code. To get started, follow the quickstart to install this open source library and connect it to a Postgres database. Then, annotate workflows and steps in your program to make it durable! That's all you need to do—DBOS is entirely contained in this open source library…
read the full dbos-transact-py overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is agent-framework or dbos-transact-py more popular?
agent-framework has 14,527 GitHub stars and dbos-transact-py has 1,666. agent-framework has the larger community by that measure.
Are agent-framework and dbos-transact-py free?
Both are open source. agent-framework is licensed under MIT and dbos-transact-py under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between agent-framework and dbos-transact-py?
agent-framework is written in Python and dbos-transact-py in Python. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, agent-framework or dbos-transact-py?
Choose agent-framework if you want the larger community (14,527 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose dbos-transact-py if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.