Google Agent Development Kit is live · free · last verified 4 Nov 2026 · viability healthy
Google Agent Development Kit
Google Agent Development Kit (ADK) is the MIT-licensed framework for building production AI agents with graph workflows
ADK 2.0 is the framework to reach for when graph workflows, multi-agent coordination, and built-in traces matter more than a giant third-party connector library. The MIT license plus Python, TypeScript, Go, Java, and Kotlin coverage lowers the cost of a mixed-language team. It costs you if what you actually wanted was no-code.
Verdict generatedVerified 9d ago · liveness 79/100 · cite: rightaichoice.com/tools/google-adk
- Engineering teams building multi-agent systems that need deterministic graph orchestration
- Multi-language teams shipping agents in Python, TypeScript, Go, Java, or Kotlin
- Projects wanting evaluation, simulation, and traces wired in from day one
- Teams already on Google Cloud that want Cloud Run, GKE, or Agent Runtime deploys
- Teams that want a drag-and-drop no-code agent builder
- Shops anchored on AWS or Azure needing deep native cloud integration
- Lightweight single-agent apps where a full framework is overkill
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Skip ADK if you want a drag-and-drop agent builder, need deep AWS- or Azure-native deployment paths, or are shipping a simple single-agent app that doesn't justify learning a full framework.
The framework itself is MIT-licensed and free, but running agents in production adds cloud compute costs on Cloud Run, GKE, or Agent Runtime that scale with traffic and are billed separately.
ADK is a free, MIT-licensed open-source framework, so the comparison isn't license cost but engineering time plus cloud and model spend. That favors mid-size and larger engineering teams with in-house Python, TypeScript, Go, Java, or Kotlin skills. Solo builders or teams without those skills may find a lower-code managed agent product cheaper once you count the cost of learning the framework.
In short
Google Agent Development Kit — Google Agent Development Kit (ADK) is the MIT-licensed framework for building production AI agents with graph workflows. Best for Engineering teams building multi-agent systems that need deterministic graph orchestration, Multi-language teams shipping agents in Python, TypeScript, Go, Java, or Kotlin, Projects wanting evaluation, simulation, and traces wired in from day one. Free to use.
What is Google Agent Development Kit?
Google Agent Development Kit — Google Agent Development Kit (ADK) is the MIT-licensed framework for building production AI agents with graph workflows. Best for Engineering teams building multi-agent systems that need deterministic graph orchestration, Multi-language teams shipping agents in Python, TypeScript, Go, Java, or Kotlin, Projects wanting evaluation, simulation, and traces wired in from day one. Free to use.
Google Agent Development Kit (ADK) is an open-source framework for developers building production AI agents rather than demos. It ships in five languages — Python, TypeScript, Go, Java, and Kotlin — each with its own package, so a mixed-language org can standardize on one agent model. ADK 2.0 is GA, and TypeScript 2.0 GA arrived with graph workflows support, which is the current headline capability. The centerpiece is graph workflows: deterministic code woven with adaptive AI reasoning across explicit execution paths, so outcomes stay predictable while models still reason. On top of that sit collaborative workflows for coordinating several agents on one job, plus sequential, loop, parallel, and custom template patterns and agent routing. Model choice is broad: Gemini, Gemma, and Claude natively, with routing through OpenAI, Ollama, vLLM, LiteLLM, and LiteRT-LM. Day-to-day tooling is where it earns its keep. The Agents CLI scaffolds, builds, tests, evaluates, and deploys agents from your existing AI-enabled editor. Agents run through a Web Interface, Visual Builder, Command Line, or API Server, or as ambient agents with resume and cancel controls. Observability ships in: logging, metrics, traces, evaluation criteria, user and environment simulation, custom metrics, and guardrails. This suits developers and platform teams that treat orchestration and observability as first-class. Against LangChain-style frameworks, ADK leans on deterministic graph orchestration and five-language SDK parity rather than a sprawling catalog of pre-built third-party connectors — pick it for control over someone else's integration pack.
Key features
- MIT-licensed open-source agent development framework
- SDKs for Python, TypeScript, Go, Java, and Kotlin
- ADK 2.0 graph workflows mixing deterministic code with AI reasoning
- Graph routes, dynamic workflows, and human input steps
- Collaborative workflows for multi-agent coordination
- Sequential, loop, parallel, and custom template workflow patterns
- Agent routing across workflow patterns
- Native model support for Gemini, Gemma, and Claude
- Model routing through OpenAI, Ollama, vLLM, LiteLLM, and LiteRT-LM
- Agents CLI for scaffolding, building, testing, evaluating, and deploying
- Web Interface and Visual Builder for running agents
- Command Line and API Server run modes
- Ambient agents with resume and cancel run controls
- Live and Voice Agents with audio and video (Python, Java)
- Built-in logging, metrics, traces, evaluation criteria, and guardrails
Behind the verdict
Pick ADK when the agent you're shipping has real branching logic and you want those paths written down, not inferred. Graph workflows let you keep the deterministic parts deterministic and hand only the fuzzy parts to a model, which is the difference between an agent you can debug at 2am and one you can't. The built-in logging, metrics, traces, and evaluation criteria mean you aren't bolting on observability after the fact. Multi-language teams get a real break here. Python, TypeScript, Go, Java, and Kotlin all ship their own packages, and the project has been pushing parity — though you should verify the specific API you need exists in your language before committing, since the newest surface usually lands first in Python. Where it bites: this is code-first. There's a Visual Builder and a Web Interface, but nobody would call ADK a drag-and-drop agent builder. If your team is non-technical or wants a canvas, look at hosted no-code agent platforms instead. We'd also steer cloud-anchored AWS or Azure shops elsewhere if they need deep native integration with their own stack. ADK's deploy story leans Google Cloud — Cloud Run, GKE, Agent Runtime — and while it runs anywhere Python or Node does, you get the least friction inside Google's ecosystem. For a single-agent app with a couple of tool calls, a full framework is overkill. Reach for ADK when you're already thinking in patterns, agents, and workflows. Closest alternative is LangChain/LangGraph for the graph-orchestration neighborhood, or a hosted platform if you'd rather rent the runtime. ADK's angle is the MIT license plus first-party Google tooling, not a marketplace of integrations.
Models under the hood
as of 2026-11-08
Limitations
- ADK is code-first: you need development skills in Python, TypeScript, Go, Java, or Kotlin.
- Some capabilities may be language-limited — Live and Voice Agents are documented for Python and Java only — so verify your chosen language before standardizing.
- Version status has to be checked per language, as releases differ across the per-language SDKs (the site highlights TypeScript 2.0 GA with graph workflows).
as of 2026-10-10
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Is Google Agent Development Kit still active?
Google Agent Development Kit is live · free · last verified 4 Nov 2026 · viability healthy.
Viability score
How well maintained and how widely used is Google Agent Development Kit? Built from what the vendor actually publishes (docs, changelog, tutorials, integrations, pricing), whether the site is live, and how much real users discuss it. How we calculate this
Last calculated: November 2026
How we score →What do users say about Google Agent Development Kit?
What people actually say about Google Agent Development Kit — is it worth it?
Our community sentiment research written Aug 6, 2026 is more than 90 days old, so it is being re-reviewed against current data and is not shown.
How we verified this
Every listed fact about Google Agent Development Kit — pricing, features, links, status — is re-read from the vendor's own pages by our verification pipeline and each change is logged with a date; the last pass ran on 4 Nov 2026. Analysis is drafted with AI models and checked against our editorial standards before publishing; see how we verify.
Verification history
We have re-verified Google Agent Development Kit 23 times since . Each pass re-reads the vendor's own pages and re-checks every listed field against that evidence; passes where nothing had changed are marked as such.
- — changed limitations, pricing page
- — changed pricing page
- — changed features, description, pricing tiers, our verdict, who it suits, summary
- — changed summary, features, our verdict, pricing tiers, description
- — changed limitations, models
- — changed SSL certificate, domain expiry
Showing the 6 most recent of 23 verification passes.
Free to cite with attribution — this page re-verifies continuously.
How much does Google Agent Development Kit cost in 2026?
Google Agent Development Kit: Free to use. Pricing last verified 4 Nov 2026.
Plans compared
Every published Google Agent Development Kit tier, its price as the vendor publishes it, who it fits, and what it adds over the tier below. The 12-month cost projection follows.
| Plan | Price | Billing | Who it's for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open Source | Free | — | Engineering teams with Python, TypeScript, Go, Java, or Kotlin skills who want to build and deploy agents without a framework license fee.Adds: Free entry point: MIT license covering the framework, all five language SDKs, ADK 2.0 graph workflows, observability, evaluation, and the Agents CLI. |
12-month cost
Project the real annual outlay, including the implied monthly cost when only an annual tier is published.
Vendor list price only. Add-on usage, seat overages, and contract minimums are surfaced under Hidden costs & gotchas.
Where the pricing makes sense
The company stage and team size where Google Agent Development Kit's pricing actually pencils out — and where peers do it cheaper.
ADK is a free, MIT-licensed open-source framework, so the comparison isn't license cost but engineering time plus cloud and model spend. That favors mid-size and larger engineering teams with in-house Python, TypeScript, Go, Java, or Kotlin skills. Solo builders or teams without those skills may find a lower-code managed agent product cheaper once you count the cost of learning the framework.
Has Google Agent Development Kit's pricing changed?
No plan price for Google Agent Development Kit has moved since we began logging in Aug 2026; the pricing page is re-read on every verification pass.
Who should pick Google Agent Development Kit?
Pick Google Agent Development Kit if you are Engineering teams building multi-agent systems that need deterministic graph orchestration, Multi-language teams shipping agents in Python, TypeScript, Go, Java, or Kotlin, Projects wanting evaluation, simulation, and traces wired in from day one, Teams already on Google Cloud that want Cloud Run, GKE, or Agent Runtime deploys.
Look elsewhere if you are Teams that want a drag-and-drop no-code agent builder, Shops anchored on AWS or Azure needing deep native cloud integration, Lightweight single-agent apps where a full framework is overkill, Teams that need every language SDK at identical feature parity today.
Skip it if Skip ADK if you want a drag-and-drop agent builder, need deep AWS- or Azure-native deployment paths, or are shipping a simple single-agent app that doesn't justify learning a full framework.
GeneratedReal-world workflow fit
Concrete scenarios for the personas Google Agent Development Kit actually fits — and what changes day-one when you adopt it.
You scaffold a multi-tool agent with the Agents CLI in your AI-enabled editor, define a graph workflow so the compliance-check step stays deterministic while a model handles intent classification, and test it against evaluation criteria before deploying.
Outcome: A first agent running locally through the Web Interface within a working session, deployable to Cloud Run once the eval scores hold.
You standardize two teams — one on Python, one on TypeScript — on ADK 2.0, wire traces and metrics into your existing monitoring, and expose one agent over A2A so a separate service can consume it.
Outcome: One framework vocabulary across languages, with observability and agent-to-agent calls handled by the framework instead of custom glue.
You build a live voice agent in Python using the Live and Voice Agents workflow, configuring audio and video handling and session state, then deploy it behind an API Server run mode.
Outcome: A functioning voice agent reachable over HTTP, with session and event handling provided by the framework rather than hand-rolled.
Use cases
- Build a multi-agent pipeline where graph workflows keep critical logic deterministic and models handle the ambiguous steps.
- Prototype a planner/executor agent team locally via the dev UI, then deploy with the Agents CLI without framework changes.
- Evaluate agent versions against evaluation criteria, user simulation, and custom metrics before shipping a change.
- Wire Google Search grounding into a research agent with a single tool declaration.
- Expose one ADK agent over A2A and consume it from another agent or service.
- Ship a voice or live agent in Python or Java using the Live and Voice Agents workflows.
- Run ambient agents that can be resumed or cancelled mid-run from the runtime config.
Setup time & first value
How long it actually takes to get something useful out of Google Agent Development Kit — broken out by persona, not the marketing-page minute.
A developer already fluent in Python, TypeScript, Go, Java, or Kotlin can install the SDK and get a single-tool agent running in the dev Web Interface in well under an hour. Wiring a full graph workflow with evaluation criteria typically takes a day or two. Teams adopting a second language SDK or the Go 1.x-to-2.0 migration should budget additional time per language.
Switching to or from Google Agent Development Kit
How to bring data in from common predecessors and how to get it back out — written for the switcher, not the buyer.
- →From Go ADK 1.x: follow the Go 1.x migration guidance referenced on the ADK 2.0 release page to move to the v2 workflow package and human-in-the-loop tool confirmation.
- →From a LangChain-style chain framework: rewrite chains as graph workflows or template workflows, replacing third-party tool plugins with function, MCP, or OpenAPI tools.
- →From a bespoke orchestration script: map your existing steps onto sequential, loop, parallel, or custom template workflow patterns, then move ambiguous steps into model-driven nodes.
- ↗To a lower-code agent platform: export your tool definitions and prompts, then rebuild the orchestration visually rather than as graph code.
- ↗To another code-first framework: your function and OpenAPI tool definitions port most directly; graph workflow logic will need rewriting to the target framework's model.
Integrations
Resources & guides
- Resourcegoogle.github.io
Agent Development Kit (ADK)
Build powerful multi-agent systems with Agent Development Kit (ADK)
- Resourcegoogle.github.io
Build Agents
Helpful link from google.github.io
- Resourcegoogle.github.io
Run Agents
Helpful link from google.github.io
- Resourcegoogle.github.io
Components
Helpful link from google.github.io
- Resourcegoogle.github.io
Agent Development Kit (ADK)
Build powerful multi-agent systems with Agent Development Kit (ADK)
- API Referencegoogle.github.io
Reference
Methods, params, types from google.github.io
Tutorials & Learning
YouTube returned 6 videos for “Google Agent Development Kit”, and we withheld 6: 6 did not mention Google Agent Development Kit. We are showing none, because we could not prove any of them are about Google Agent Development Kit.
Official links
What are the best Google Agent Development Kit alternatives?
The closest alternatives to Google Agent Development Kit we list are Haystack, OpenAI Agents SDK and LangGraph. Ranked by direct product-type match, not category overlap.
| Alternative | Pricing | Starts at | Last verified |
|---|---|---|---|
| Haystack | Freemium | Pricing not published | — |
| OpenAI Agents SDK | Free | Free | — |
| LangGraph | Freemium | Pricing not published | — |
Alternatives to Google Agent Development Kit
View all
Haystack
Haystack is deepset's open-source Python framework for building inspectable RAG pipelines and production-grade AI agents
OpenAI Agents SDK
OpenAI Agents SDK: a free Python framework for building multi-agent workflows with handoffs, guardrails, and sandbox agents
Tools that pair well with Google Agent Development Kit
Common stack mates teams adopt alongside Google Agent Development Kit, with the specific reason each pairing earns its keep.
Haystack
Haystack is deepset's open-source Python framework for building inspectable RAG pipelines and production-grade AI agents
OpenAI Agents SDK
OpenAI Agents SDK: a free Python framework for building multi-agent workflows with handoffs, guardrails, and sandbox agents
LangGraph
LangGraph is a low-level agent orchestration framework for building stateful, controllable AI agents as graphs.
Google Agent Development Kit vs its closest rival
Google Agent Development Kit's closest head-to-head is with Crewai.
Our Google Agent Development Kit vs Crewai verdict written May 12, 2026 is more than 90 days old, so it is being re-reviewed against current data and is not shown.
Head-to-head comparisons
Crewai vs Google Adk
Verdict being re-reviewed against current pricing and data.
Google Adk vs Langchain
If you need deep debugging and evaluation for production agents, LangChain's LangSmith is unmatched — its autonomous failure diagnosis and fix suggestions save hours. But if you're building multi-agent systems and want a free, open-source framework with zero vendor lock-in, Google ADK 2.0 offers powerful orchestration and model routing. Choose LangChain for enterprise observability at a cost; choose ADK if you value flexibility and multi-language support without the price tag.
GeneratedGoogle Adk vs N8n
If you're a developer who wants a lightweight, code-first framework tightly integrated with Google Cloud and multi-model routing, ADK 2.0 is your pick—especially now with graph workflows. But if you need a visual canvas, 500+ integrations out of the box, and fine-grained control over execution costs, n8n gives you that flexibility with self-hosting and human-in-the-loop guardrails. Choose n8n for ops-heavy automation with a GUI; choose ADK for pure code-based agent orchestration.
GeneratedGoogle Adk vs Langgraph
Verdict being re-reviewed against current pricing and data.
Autogen vs Google Adk
Verdict being re-reviewed against current pricing and data.
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