Google ADK

Google ADK is an open-source Python framework for building, evaluating, and deploying AI agents.

Agent Development Kit (ADK) is an open-source, code-first Python framework for building, evaluating, and deploying sophisticated AI agents with flexibility and control. It applies software development principles to AI agent creation to simplify building, deploying, and orchestrating agent workflows. The framework is model-agnostic and deployment-agnostic, though optimized for Gemini. It features a workflow runtime, a task API for delegation, modular multi-agent systems, and a rich tool ecosystem supporting pre-built tools, OpenAPI specs, and MCP tools. Developers can use Python for code-first development or build agents without code using Agent Config.

Google ADK at a glance

Best for: Software engineer
Runs on: Python, Cloud Run, Vertex AI Agent Engine, Docker
Pricing: Free and open source under the Apache 2.0 License
Released: April 2025
Category: AI coding tool
Website: github.com/google/adk-python

Key features

Workflow runtime for deterministic execution flows
Task API for structured agent-to-agent delegation
Modular multi-agent systems for scalable applications
Rich tool ecosystem with pre-built and custom tools
Code-first development directly in Python
Agent Config for building agents without code
Tool confirmation flow with explicit confirmation

Use it for

Building AI agents
Evaluating AI agents
Deploying AI agents
Orchestrating agent workflows

Companions

Tools that articles about Google ADK recommend using with it, each with its job.

Context7 — Provides up-to-date documentation for AI agents and code editors.
Ollama — Run local models at zero marginal cost, with code kept on your machine.
OpenRouter — Access over 500 models and 80 providers through one unified API.
Daytona — Runs sessions in isolated sandboxes synced to git branches.
Composio — Equips AI agents with tools, managed user auth, and sandboxes across 1,500+ apps
Oh My OpenCode Slim — Lightweight multi-agent orchestration and background tasks.

Alternatives to Google ADK

Genkit — Provides unified APIs and local developer tools for AI application workflows.
Google Agents CLI — Turns coding agents into experts at building and deploying Google Cloud agents.
OpenCode — Works with 75+ model providers, local models, and existing subscriptions
pstack — Improves AI coding agent outcomes with rigorous workflows.
CopilotKit — Connects your application to AI agents with generative UI and human approvals.
Atomic Agents — Build predictable, modular AI applications with consistent, reliable outputs.
OpenAI Agents SDK — Provider-agnostic multi-agent framework with built-in guardrails and tracing.
Adhdev — Orchestrates agents across machines with automated, test-gated git merging.
Google Antigravity — It allows local management and parallel execution of autonomous coding agents.
AGENTS.md — It separates agent-specific instructions from human-focused README files.
AI SDK — Switch providers easily and stream real-time responses without custom parsing.
AG-UI — Standardizes agent-user interactions and generative UI for applications.

All Google ADK alternatives