--- title: "SpiffWorkflow vs agents" type: "comparison" canonical_url: "https://www.graphcanon.com/compare/sartography-spiffworkflow-vs-wshobson-agents" tools: ["sartography-spiffworkflow", "wshobson-agents"] --- # SpiffWorkflow vs agents *GraphCanon updated Jul 15, 2026* ## Verdict Pick SpiffWorkflow when license: SpiffWorkflow is LGPL-3.0, agents is MIT; pick agents when license: agents is MIT, SpiffWorkflow is LGPL-3.0. [SpiffWorkflow](https://github.com/sartography/SpiffWorkflow) reports 1.9k GitHub stars, 339 forks, and 9 open issues, last pushed Jul 12, 2026. [agents](https://sethhobson.com) has 38k stars, 4.0k forks, and 1 open issues, last pushed Jul 8, 2026. Figures are from public GitHub metadata via [SpiffWorkflow's repository](https://github.com/sartography/SpiffWorkflow) and [agents's repository](https://github.com/wshobson/agents). | | [SpiffWorkflow](/tools/sartography-spiffworkflow.md) | [agents](/tools/wshobson-agents.md) | | --- | --- | --- | | Tagline | A powerful workflow engine implemented in pure Python | Multi-harness agentic plugin marketplace for various AI agents | | Stars | 1,903 | 37,779 | | Forks | 339 | 4,050 | | Open issues | 9 | 1 | | Language | Python | Python | | Adopt for | - | The agents tool is a marketplace for plugins that enhances multiple AI agents, offering integration and management capabilities across several platforms, including Claude Code, Codex CLI, Cursor, OpenCode, GitHub Copilot | | Persona | - | - | | Runtime | - | - | | License | LGPL-3.0 | MIT | | Categories | Developer Tools | AI Agents, Developer Tools | ## Trust and health _Sourced signals - not a safety guarantee. No winner column._ | | [SpiffWorkflow](/tools/sartography-spiffworkflow.md) | [agents](/tools/wshobson-agents.md) | | --- | --- | --- | | Open issues (now) | 9 | 1 | | Owner type | Organization | User | | Full report | [trust report](/tools/sartography-spiffworkflow/trust.md) | [trust report](/tools/wshobson-agents/trust.md) | ## Decision facts: agents - **Adopt for:** The agents tool is a marketplace for plugins that enhances multiple AI agents, offering integration and management capabilities across several platforms, including Claude Code, Codex CLI, Cursor, OpenCode, GitHub Copilot ## Choose when ### Choose SpiffWorkflow if… - License: SpiffWorkflow is LGPL-3.0, agents is MIT. - Tags unique to SpiffWorkflow: bpmn, bpmn-engine, python, spiff-workflow. - SpiffWorkflow ships Docker support for self-hosted deployment. ### Choose agents if… - License: agents is MIT, SpiffWorkflow is LGPL-3.0. - Tags unique to agents: agent-skills, agentic-ai, automation, prompt-engineering. - Also covers AI Agents. - You are working specifically within the ecosystems of Claude Code, Codex CLI, Cursor, OpenCode, GitHub Copilot, or Gemini CLI, as it provides tailored plugins for these environments ## When NOT to use SpiffWorkflow - Developer Tools: A gateway is overkill when you're pinned to a single provider and model. ## When NOT to use agents - You are working solely within a niche environment that isn't one of the supported platforms (like Claude Code, Codex CLI, etc.) because it may not offer compatible plugins or extensive support - Your project requirements do not include interoperability between multiple AI agents and you only need to leverage functionalities from a single AI agent with a robust in-built plugin ecosystem ## Common questions ### What is the difference between SpiffWorkflow and agents? SpiffWorkflow: A powerful workflow engine implemented in pure Python. agents: Multi-harness agentic plugin marketplace for various AI agents. See the comparison table for live GitHub stats and shared categories. ### When should I choose SpiffWorkflow over agents? Choose SpiffWorkflow over agents when License: SpiffWorkflow is LGPL-3.0, agents is MIT; Tags unique to SpiffWorkflow: bpmn, bpmn-engine, python, spiff-workflow; SpiffWorkflow ships Docker support for self-hosted deployment. ### When should I choose agents over SpiffWorkflow? Choose agents over SpiffWorkflow when License: agents is MIT, SpiffWorkflow is LGPL-3.0; Tags unique to agents: agent-skills, agentic-ai, automation, prompt-engineering; Also covers AI Agents; You are working specifically within the ecosystems of Claude Code, Codex CLI, Cursor, OpenCode, GitHub Copilot, or Gemini CLI, as it provides tailored plugins for these environments. ### When should I avoid SpiffWorkflow? Developer Tools: A gateway is overkill when you're pinned to a single provider and model. ### When should I avoid agents? You are working solely within a niche environment that isn't one of the supported platforms (like Claude Code, Codex CLI, etc.) because it may not offer compatible plugins or extensive support Your project requirements do not include interoperability between multiple AI agents and you only need to leverage functionalities from a single AI agent with a robust in-built plugin ecosystem ### Is SpiffWorkflow or agents more popular on GitHub? agents has more GitHub stars (37,779 vs 1,903). Stars measure visibility, not whether either tool fits your constraints. ### Are SpiffWorkflow and agents open source? Yes - both are open-source projects on GitHub (SpiffWorkflow: LGPL-3.0, agents: MIT). ### Where can I find alternatives to SpiffWorkflow or agents? GraphCanon lists graph-backed alternatives at [SpiffWorkflow alternatives](/tools/sartography-spiffworkflow/alternatives) and [agents alternatives](/tools/wshobson-agents/alternatives) ([SpiffWorkflow markdown twin](/tools/sartography-spiffworkflow/alternatives.md), [agents markdown twin](/tools/wshobson-agents/alternatives.md)), ranked by typed relationship edges rather than popularity votes. ### Is there a machine-readable version of this comparison? Yes. The markdown twin at [this comparison](/compare/sartography-spiffworkflow-vs-wshobson-agents.md) mirrors this page for agents and LLM crawlers, with the same stats table and FAQ answers. ### Which is better maintained, SpiffWorkflow or agents? SpiffWorkflow: Very active. agents: Very active. Compare maintenance labels, days since push, and release cadence in the trust section below - stars alone do not measure maintenance. ### Where are the full trust reports for SpiffWorkflow and agents? GraphCanon publishes per-repo trust reports with dated maintenance, provenance, and scan summaries: [SpiffWorkflow trust report](/tools/sartography-spiffworkflow/trust); [agents trust report](/tools/wshobson-agents/trust). --- **Machine-readable endpoints** - JSON: [`/api/graphcanon/graph?tool=sartography-spiffworkflow`](/api/graphcanon/graph?tool=sartography-spiffworkflow) - LLM index: [/llms.txt](/llms.txt) - Full corpus: [/llms-full.txt](/llms-full.txt) _GraphCanon - The knowledge graph for AI development. https://www.graphcanon.com/_