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Swarm

OpenAI's experimental, educational framework for lightweight multi-agent orchestration, now replaced by the Agents SDK.

Open source
Visit github.com Swarm (official site)Compare developer platforms

What is Swarm?

Swarm is an educational framework from OpenAI that explores ergonomic, lightweight multi-agent orchestration, and the repository says it is managed by the OpenAI Solution team. It shows how several agents can hand work to one another using a small amount of code, which makes it a handy reference for developers learning the ideas before moving to a larger toolkit. The project is labeled experimental, and a notice in the repository says Swarm has been replaced by the OpenAI Agents SDK, which is recommended for any production use. Swarm is open source under the MIT license and free to use, although you still pay for any model APIs or infrastructure you connect to it. It suits Python developers, students and AI engineers who want to read a compact implementation, not teams shipping a product. The repository on GitHub has roughly 22,000 stars and 2,300 forks, and it is the place to find the code and the migration notice.

Use cases

  • Learn multi-agent orchestration patterns
  • Read a compact reference implementation
  • Prototype agent hand-offs in Python
  • Plan a migration to the Agents SDK

Who it's for

  • Python developers
  • Students
  • AI engineers

Why use Swarm

  • A small code base is quick to read, so you can understand how agent hand-offs work.
  • Free and open source under the MIT license, with no plan to buy.
  • A clear notice points to the maintained replacement when you are ready to build something real.

Swarm features

  • Lightweight multi-agent orchestration
  • Agent hand-offs in a small code base
  • Educational reference code
  • Open-source MIT license
  • Documented replacement in the OpenAI Agents SDK

Swarm integrations

  • OpenAI

How to get started with Swarm

  1. Open the GitHub repository and read the notice about the replacement project.
  2. Browse the code and examples to see how agents are defined and how hand-offs work.
  3. Install it in a test environment if you want to experiment, supplying your own model access.
  4. Move to the OpenAI Agents SDK for production applications.

Swarm limitations

  • Experimental and educational, not for production
  • Replaced by the OpenAI Agents SDK
  • No hosted service or paid support is listed

Swarm pricing

Swarm is open source, so you can use and self-host it for free.

Prices can change and may vary by country or exclude tax. Check the official pricing page.

Swarm alternatives

The main Swarm alternatives listed on Debuly are OpenAI Agents SDK, CrewAI, AG2, LangGraph, AutoGen and Agno. The table compares pricing and platforms; order is A–Z.

Swarm compared with its alternatives
ToolPricingStarting pricePlatforms
SwarmOpen source—Self-hosted
AG2Open source—API, Web, Self-hosted
AgnoOpen source—API, Web, Self-hosted, CLI
AutoGenOpen source—API, CLI
CrewAIOpen source—Web, API, CLI, Self-hosted
LangGraphOpen source—Self-hosted, Web, API
OpenAI Agents SDKOpen source—Python, macOS, Linux, Windows

  1. AG2

    Open-source multi-agent framework, formerly AutoGen, plus an AgentOS platform for coordinating and deploying teams of AI agents.

    Developer platformsAutomation and agentsCoding
    Open sourceVisit AG2 (official site)

  2. Agno

    Python framework and AgentOS runtime for building agents, teams and workflows, then serving them as an API with a control plane.

    Developer platformsAutomation and agentsCoding
    Open sourceVisit Agno (official site)

  3. AutoGen

    Microsoft's MIT-licensed Python and .NET framework for multi-agent AI apps, now archived; new projects are pointed to Microsoft Agent Framework.

    Developer platformsAutomation and agentsCoding
    Open sourceVisit AutoGen (official site)

  4. CrewAI

    Multi-agent framework and platform for building AI agent crews in Python or a visual editor, then deploying and monitoring them.

    Developer platformsAutomation and agentsCoding
    Open sourceVisit CrewAI (official site)

  5. LangGraph

    Low-level open-source orchestration framework and runtime for building stateful, long-running AI agents as graphs.

    Developer platformsAutomation and agentsCoding
    Open sourceVisit LangGraph (official site)

  6. OpenAI Agents SDK

    Open-source Python framework for building multi-agent workflows with tools, handoffs, guardrails, tracing, sandboxes and voice agents.

    Developer platformsAutomation and agentsCoding
    Open sourceVisit OpenAI Agents SDK (official site)

Swarm FAQ

How much does Swarm cost?

Swarm is free and open source under the MIT license. You may pay separately for the model APIs or infrastructure you connect it to.

Is there a free plan?

There are no plans or tiers. The code is free to use from GitHub, and no hosted service is offered.

Is Swarm open source?

Yes, the repository is public and MIT licensed.

Who is Swarm for?

It is for Python developers, students and AI engineers who want to learn multi-agent patterns from a compact example, not for production teams.

Should I use Swarm in production?

No. The repository describes it as experimental and educational and points to the OpenAI Agents SDK for production use.

What are alternatives to Swarm?

Alternatives include the OpenAI Agents SDK, CrewAI, AG2, LangGraph and AutoGen. They vary in language support, maintenance status and how much control they give over the agent loop.

Sources & verification

Facts on this page come from the official sources below, each with the date we read it. Written by Debuly; the vendor did not review this page.

SourceTypeAccessed
github.com/openai/swarmofficial

Image credits

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