head to head · open source
agent-framework vs relay
agent-framework has 14,527 GitHub stars, 2,570 forks, 617 open issues and last shipped yesterday. relay has 1,089 stars, 96 forks, 286 open issues and last shipped yesterday. agent-framework leads on adoption by 1,234% (14,527 vs 1,089 stars). agent-framework is written in Python under MIT; relay is written in Rust under Apache-2.0. agent-framework has attracted 18% as many forks as stars, relay 9%. relay was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 3 topic tags (agentic-ai, agents, orchestration), 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 | relay | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 15K | ★ 1.1K |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Python | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-11-04 | 2026-11-04 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.6K | ⑂ 96 |
| 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 relay if
- You want the relay feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You evaluated both and relay 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 relay
Get your agents talking. Let Claude Code message Codex. Let your Hyperagent talk to your Hermes agent. Give your custom agents a way to message each other. Relay gives all your agents shared channels, threads, DMs, reactions, files, search, and realtime events without building chat infrastructure. Quick Start Relay requires Node.js 22 or newer. Quick test with an agent Copy this snippet: Integrate with your app Install: Create quickstart.ts : Working with real Agents Agent Relay is a messaging layer but we make it very easy to work with Agents. Claude Code, Codex, and OpenCode retain PTY as their automatic…
read the full relay overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is agent-framework or relay more popular?
agent-framework has 14,527 GitHub stars and relay has 1,089. agent-framework has the larger community by that measure.
Are agent-framework and relay free?
Both are open source. agent-framework is licensed under MIT and relay under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between agent-framework and relay?
agent-framework is written in Python and relay in Rust. 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 relay?
Choose agent-framework if you want the larger community (14,527 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose relay if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.