Semantic Kernel
Microsoft SDK for AI agents (superseded)
Semantic Kernel is a model-agnostic SDK from Microsoft for C#, Python and Java, with plugins, agents and group chats. Since Microsoft Agent Framework 1.0 in April 2026, Semantic Kernel is in maintenance mode; its concepts have been merged into Agent Framework, which Microsoft calls the unified successor of Semantic Kernel and AutoGen. Existing projects still receive bug fixes and security updates, and migration guides are available for new work.
Status notice
Semantic Kernel has been superseded
In maintenance mode since Microsoft Agent Framework 1.0 (April 2026). Microsoft recommends Agent Framework for new projects.
Successor: Microsoft Agent Framework
This system is no longer included in our recommendations.
Good fit if
Focus: Existing Semantic Kernel projects; new projects should use Microsoft Agent Framework
- your project is about Enterprise AI, Azure integration or Multi-agent systems
- someone on your team writes code
Probably not if
- nobody on your team writes code (2/5 for use without developers)
Key figures
- Usable without developers
- 2/5
- Scalability
- 5/5
- Integrations
- 4/5
- Versioning
- 2/5
- Observability
- 3/5
Editorial rating on a scale from 1 to 5. Methodology
Fact sheet
- Category
- Developer
- Type
- Microsoft SDK for AI agents (superseded)
- Licence
- Open Source (MIT)
- Pricing
- Open SourceOpen source and free (MIT)
- Deployment
- Self-Hosted, Azure, Any
- Models
- Azure OpenAI, OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Ollama, Hugging Face
- RAG
- Yes
- Multi-Agent
- Yes
- SSO, roles (RBAC)
- SSO no, RBAC no
- Latest version
- 1.45.0 (Python)
- GitHub stars
- 28,600
Key features
- Model-agnostic
- Group chat
- Azure integration
- Plugins
Typical use cases
- Enterprise AI
- Azure integration
- Multi-agent systems
Sources
Checked on 9 Oct 2026
Implementation
Get Semantic Kernel implemented
Free for you. Partners only pay for requests they accept.
Alternatives
Similar systems
Similar in category, features or use cases.
- DeveloperMicrosoft Agent FrameworkMicrosoft Agent Framework is Microsoft's open-source framework for agents and multi-agent workflows in Python and .NET. Version 1.0 shipped in April 2026 and is the unified successor of Semantic Kernel and AutoGen. A graph-based workflow engine supports branching, parallelism, checkpoints and human approvals; ready-made patterns exist for sequential, concurrent, handoff, group chat and Magentic-One orchestration. MCP and A2A are supported.View profile
- DeveloperAutoGenAutoGen is an open-source framework from Microsoft Research for multi-agent systems, known for group chats between agents and code execution. With the release of Microsoft Agent Framework 1.0 in April 2026, AutoGen entered maintenance mode: it only receives bug fixes and security updates, and new development happens in Agent Framework. Microsoft recommends Agent Framework for new projects.View profile
- DeveloperCrewAICrewAI is a Python framework for teams of agents with defined roles, goals and tasks. Crews work through tasks sequentially or hierarchically, while Flows control event-driven, stateful processes. The framework is MIT licensed; for deployment, monitoring and management CrewAI offers the commercial platform CrewAI AMP.View profile
- DeveloperGoogle Agent Development Kit (ADK)The Agent Development Kit (ADK) is an open-source framework from Google for building, evaluating and deploying agents in code. It is available for Python, TypeScript, Go, Java and Kotlin and offers workflow agents for sequential, parallel and loop flows, plus graph-based workflows since version 2.0. ADK is optimized for Gemini but also works with Claude, OpenAI models and local models; deployment targets include Agent Runtime, Cloud Run and GKE.View profile