head to head · open source
Temporal vs agent-framework
Temporal has 23,180 GitHub stars, 1,914 forks, 956 open issues and last shipped today. agent-framework has 13,604 stars, 2,344 forks, 617 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. Temporal leads on adoption by 70% (23,180 vs 13,604 stars). Temporal is written in Go under MIT; agent-framework is written in Python under MIT. Temporal has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, agent-framework 17%. Temporal was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
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
| Temporal | agent-framework | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 23K | ★ 14K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | Go | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-20 | 2026-09-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.9K | ⑂ 2.3K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Temporal if
- You weight community size — 23K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick agent-framework if
- You want the agent-framework feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and agent-framework fits your workflow better
About Temporal
Temporal is a durable execution platform for building resilient applications with workflows. It lives in the infrastructure and operations ecosystem, specifically within orchestration and scheduling. The server executes units of application logic called Workflows and automatically handles intermittent failures by retrying failed operations. Temporal originated as a fork of Uber's Cadence and is developed by Temporal Technologies, a startup formed by the creators of Cadence.
read the full Temporal overview →
About agent-framework
Microsoft Agent Framework is an open, MIT licensed, multi language framework for building, orchestrating and deploying production grade AI agents and multi agent workflows in Python and .NET, aimed at teams moving agents from prototype to production.
read the full agent-framework overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Temporal or agent-framework more popular?
Temporal has 23,180 GitHub stars and agent-framework has 13,604. Temporal has the larger community by that measure.
Are Temporal and agent-framework free?
Both are open source. Temporal is licensed under MIT and agent-framework under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Temporal and agent-framework?
Temporal is written in Go and agent-framework 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, Temporal or agent-framework?
Choose Temporal if you want the larger community (23,180 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose agent-framework if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.