TL;DR
We ran identical tests across both SDKs using Claude Opus 4.5 on AWS Bedrock. Key findings:
- Anthropic Python SDK: 20% faster, 21% cheaper
- Pi Agent SDK: 27% more detailed responses
- Both: 100% success rate across all tests
Choose Anthropic for speed and cost. Choose Pi for comprehensive outputs and multi-provider flexibility.
Why We Built This Benchmark
At Agentive, we have extensive production experience with multiple AI agent frameworks. Our Agentive MultiAgent System has been built using both Pi Agent SDK and Anthropic SDK, alongside LangChain and LlamaIndex for different components.
Two recent developments made this comparison timely. First, OpenClaw (formerly ClawdBot, then MoltBot), which uses Pi Agent SDK, went viral and demonstrated impressive results for general-purpose AI assistance. Second, our own production systems, MyAgentive and AgentiveStaff, both built on the Anthropic SDK (which wraps Claude Code), have been delivering exceptional results for our enterprise clients.
We wanted to go beyond anecdotal experience and assess each framework's personality and power points through rigorous, reproducible benchmarking. Which SDK excels at what? When should you choose one over the other?
So we built a rigorous benchmark comparing the Pi Agent SDK (TypeScript) by Mario Zechner and the Anthropic SDK (Python). Both were tested with identical prompts, the same model (Claude Opus 4.5), and the same infrastructure (AWS Bedrock).
Understanding Anthropic's SDK Ecosystem
Anthropic provides SDKs in 7 languages plus dedicated Agent SDKs:
Basic API Clients
anthropic-sdk-python(this study)anthropic-sdk-typescriptanthropic-sdk-goanthropic-sdk-javaanthropic-sdk-rubyanthropic-sdk-csharpanthropic-sdk-php
Agent SDKs (Claude Agent SDK)
claude-agent-sdk-pythonclaude-agent-sdk-typescript
Full agent capabilities with Claude Code integration
The Claude Agent SDK provides full agent capabilities similar to Pi Agent SDK and will be added in future comparisons.
Architecture and Feature Comparison
Before diving into performance metrics, it is essential to understand the architectural differences between these frameworks. Each takes a fundamentally different approach to AI agent development.
Pi Agent SDK
Philosophy: Provider-agnostic agent orchestration
- → Multi-provider support: Switch between Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, and AWS Bedrock without code changes
- → Stateful agents: Built-in state management and context persistence
- → Tool execution: Native support for function calling and tool orchestration
- → TypeScript-first: Excellent type safety and IDE support
Anthropic SDK
Philosophy: Direct, optimised access to Claude models
- → Claude-optimised: Tuned specifically for Claude's capabilities and features
- → Lightweight: Minimal abstraction layer for maximum performance
- → Native async: First-class async/await patterns for efficient streaming
- → Multi-language: Available in 7 languages (Python, TypeScript, Go, Java, Ruby, C#, PHP)
| Feature | Pi Agent SDK | Anthropic SDK |
|---|---|---|
| Primary Language | TypeScript | Python (+ 6 others) |
| Multi-provider Support | Yes (4+ providers) | Claude only |
| Agent Orchestration | Built-in | Manual (or use Claude Agent SDK) |
| State Management | Built-in | Manual |
| Thinking/Reasoning | Yes | Yes |
| Streaming | Yes | Yes |
| Learning Curve | Moderate | Low |
Our Production Experience
At Agentive, we use Anthropic SDK (wrapped around Claude Code) for MyAgentive and AgentiveStaff because our products are Claude-focused and benefit from the SDK's optimised performance. We use Pi Agent SDK in scenarios requiring multi-provider flexibility or when TypeScript integration is critical. Both are excellent choices for different use cases.
The Results at a Glance
| Metric | Pi Agent SDK | Anthropic SDK | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total Duration | 377.1s | 303.5s | Anthropic (20% faster) |
| Total Cost | $2.76 | $2.18 | Anthropic (21% cheaper) |
| Output Tokens | 36,313 | 28,525 | Pi (27% more detailed) |
| Success Rate | 100% | 100% | Tie |
How We Ensured a Fair Comparison
Fair benchmarking requires controlling variables. Here is how we eliminated bias:
Same Model
Both SDKs used Claude Opus 4.5 (claude-opus-4-5-20251101)
Same Infrastructure
AWS Bedrock in us-east-1 for both, eliminating network and provider variance
Identical Prompts
Word-for-word identical prompts for all 10 test cases
Consistent Pricing
All costs calculated using Bedrock pricing ($15/1M input, $75/1M output)
The 10 Test Cases
We designed tests spanning real software engineering tasks, from simple bug detection to complex architectural decisions:
| Test | Pi SDK | Anthropic | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bug Detection | 7.3s | 8.2s | Pi |
| Code Refactoring | 14.7s | 14.4s | Tie |
| Algorithm Implementation | 27.8s | 22.5s | Anthropic |
| Complex Reasoning | 20.5s | 27.2s | Pi |
| Multi-step Task | 26.3s | 27.4s | Tie |
| Code Review | 9.9s | 10.1s | Tie |
| SQL Optimisation | 14.2s | 17.1s | Pi |
| API Design | 82.4s | 68.5s | Anthropic |
| Security Audit | 25.0s | 21.3s | Anthropic |
| Architecture Decision | 149.0s | 86.9s | Anthropic |
What the Data Tells Us
Anthropic Excels at Extended Generation
The speed advantage becomes dramatic for long-running tasks. In the Architecture Decision test, Anthropic finished in 86.9s compared to Pi's 148.9s: a 42% improvement.
This suggests the Anthropic SDK has more efficient streaming or response handling for large outputs.
Pi Produces More Comprehensive Outputs
Pi consistently generated more tokens across most tests. For architecture-related tasks, Pi produced 54% more content on average.
Whether this is "better" depends on your use case. More detail is valuable for documentation; conciseness is better for chat interfaces.
Cost Efficiency Is Identical Per Token
When normalised for output volume, both SDKs achieve $0.076 per 1,000 tokens. The cost difference is purely attributable to output volume, not efficiency.
Which SDK Should You Choose?
Choose Pi Agent SDK when:
- ✓ You need comprehensive, detailed responses (documentation, reports)
- ✓ Your stack is TypeScript/Node.js
- ✓ You want multi-provider flexibility (switch between Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, Bedrock)
- ✓ You need agent orchestration features (tools, state management)
Choose Anthropic Python SDK when:
- ✓ Speed is critical (user-facing applications, real-time features)
- ✓ Cost optimisation matters (high-volume applications)
- ✓ Your stack is Python
- ✓ You prefer simpler, direct API access without orchestration complexity
Reproduce the Results Yourself
We have open-sourced the complete benchmark, including all test code, prompts, and raw results. You can run the same tests in your own environment.
git clone https://github.com/AgentiveAU/agent-sdk-comparison
cd agent-sdk-comparison
npm install
export AWS_PROFILE=YourProfile AWS_REGION=us-east-1
npm run test:pi
npm run test:anthropic
npm run compareThe repository includes:
- → Full research paper with detailed methodology and analysis
- → Complete test suites for both SDKs
- → Raw JSON results for your own analysis
- → Contribution guide for adding new frameworks
What is Next
This benchmark is the first in a series. We plan to add:
- ✦ LangChain and LlamaIndex comparisons
- ✦ Multi-model benchmarks (Sonnet, Haiku, GPT-4)
- ✦ Streaming performance analysis
- ✦ Qualitative response correctness evaluation
Contributions are welcome. If you have a framework you would like to see benchmarked, open a PR or issue on GitHub.
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