AutoGen is in maintenance mode. Your agents still need a home.
Microsoft's successor is the Microsoft Agent Framework, and it is still a framework you host yourself. Connic is the EU-resident runtime that runs Python agents in production, with connectors, tracing, and approvals included.
The most important fact about AutoGen in 2026 is on its own README: the project "will not receive new features or enhancements and is community managed going forward". Microsoft tells new users to start with the Microsoft Agent Framework instead, and existing AutoGen users to migrate. That successor is real: MAF 1.0 went GA on April 3, 2026 as an open-source MIT SDK for .NET and Python, merging AutoGen's orchestration ideas with Semantic Kernel.
What did not change is the category. A framework is code, not a home. MAF, like AutoGen before it, is something you host yourself, and Microsoft's managed path leads into Azure and Foundry, where model routing is catalog-oriented and data residency depends on the deployment type you pick. Connic sits on the other side of that line: an EU-resident runtime under a German contract that runs Python agents in production, with connectors, tracing, evals, and approvals included instead of assembled.
Feature Comparison
Connic vs AutoGen, capability by capability.
Development Experience
Active development
AutoGen is in maintenance mode and community managed; new feature work moved to the Microsoft Agent Framework. Connic is actively developed.
Agent definition
Connic uses YAML + Python. AutoGen and the Microsoft Agent Framework are class-based SDKs (Python, and .NET for MAF).
Simple getting started
Connic: `connic init` and edit YAML. AutoGen and MAF require understanding their agent class hierarchies.
Multi-agent workflows
Connic supports sequential agents. AutoGen's conversational multi-agent patterns carry over into MAF's orchestration.
Custom tools
Both support Python functions as tools.
EU & Compliance
Managed EU data residency
Connic hosts EU-only by default. N/A for a framework: AutoGen and MAF run wherever you host them, and Microsoft's managed path leads to Azure AI Foundry, where residency depends on the deployment type.
EU contract counterparty
Connic contracts through a German company. The frameworks have no counterparty at all; you assemble the stack and the contracts yourself.
EU AI Act tooling
Connic ships execution logs, human approvals, and guardrails mapped to deployer obligations. With AutoGen or MAF, Act evidence is instrumentation you build and host.
Full production stack in one EU region
Connic's runtime, traces, judges, guardrails, and approvals share one EU region. With a framework, every piece (runtime, traces, evals, approvals) is a separate deployment with its own region answer.
Production Infrastructure
Managed hosting
Connic deploys to managed infrastructure. AutoGen and MAF are self-hosted; Microsoft's hosted route is Azure/Foundry integration.
Git-based deployments
Push to deploy with Connic. The frameworks require custom CI/CD setup.
Auto-scaling
Connic scales automatically. With AutoGen or MAF you build the scaling infrastructure.
Environment management
Built-in dev/staging/prod environments. The frameworks need manual environment handling.
Secrets management
Secure secrets per environment. The frameworks rely on external solutions.
Integrations & Triggers
HTTP webhook triggers
Built-in webhooks with Connic. With AutoGen or MAF you build the HTTP layer.
Scheduled execution
Native cron connector in Connic. The frameworks have no scheduler.
Message queue integration
Kafka and SQS are first-party in Connic. The frameworks leave queue integration to you.
Database triggers
PostgreSQL change triggers in Connic. Not part of AutoGen or MAF.
Payment/SaaS events
Stripe connector built into Connic. The frameworks ship no SaaS triggers.
Observability & Evals
Run tracing
Automatic in Connic. AutoGen has basic logging; the Microsoft Agent Framework adds OpenTelemetry instrumentation you ship to a backend you run.
Execution history
Full history in the Connic dashboard. The frameworks keep no history unless you build storage for it.
Debug UI
Web dashboard for production debugging in Connic. MAF ships a DevUI debugger aimed at local development; AutoGen is terminal/code-based.
LLM-judge evals included
First-party judge service in Connic. Microsoft's eval story routes through Azure AI Foundry, not the framework itself.
A/B testing in production
Connic runs statistical A/B tests between agent versions in production. Absent from AutoGen and MAF.
Agent Capabilities
LLM agents
Both support LLM-powered agents with tool calling.
Agent-to-agent chat
AutoGen excels at conversational multi-agent, and MAF carries the pattern forward. Connic supports sequential pipelines.
Human-in-the-loop
Approvals are a platform feature in Connic. AutoGen and MAF express HITL as patterns in code you write and host.
Code execution
Both can execute code. AutoGen has Docker-based code execution built in.
Pricing
Free to adopt
AutoGen and the Microsoft Agent Framework are MIT-licensed. Connic has a free tier; paid plans start at Developer €40/month.
Subscription doubles as usage credit
Connic plans are monthly usage credit (Developer €40, Pro €200, Enterprise custom) at identical per-unit rates: €0.047/run, €0.00042/sec compute, €0.25/GB-month storage. A self-hosted framework bills across cloud infrastructure, observability, and ops time; the Azure route meters across services.
The EU question
A framework has no residency, good or bad: AutoGen and the Microsoft Agent Framework run wherever you host them, and so does everything you wire around them. If your team operates its own EU infrastructure and wants to own the runtime, that is a legitimate path; it is also a platform project, not an agent project.
The managed alternative Microsoft offers leads into Azure AI Foundry, where agents become Hosted Agents inside the Azure estate. There, model routing is catalog-oriented and data residency is conditional: it depends on which deployment types you choose, which is exactly the kind of nuance that turns a procurement review into a project of its own.
Connic's answer is structural: a German contract counterparty, EU-hosted regions by default, and the whole production surface, traces, judges, guardrails, approvals, inside that same region under one DPA. For how the whole field compares on this axis, read the EU data residency shortlist, or see how Connic maps its features to the EU AI Act.
Where AutoGen and the Microsoft Agent Framework genuinely fit
AutoGen's research pedigree is real, and its conversational multi-agent patterns shaped the whole category. Its successor deserves credit too: the Microsoft Agent Framework is an actively developed MIT SDK for both .NET and Python, with OpenTelemetry observability and a DevUI debugger, and it is the natural choice for teams building inside the Microsoft ecosystem, especially .NET shops heading toward Azure AI Foundry.
The pivot point is what happens after the framework. New AutoGen adoption now means starting on a codebase its own vendor has moved past, and even on MAF you still own hosting, triggers, run history, evals, and the residency answer, or you buy them from Foundry under Azure's conditions. If the goal is Python agents in production in the EU rather than a Microsoft platform commitment, Connic supplies that runtime directly. To see the alternatives side by side, compare the best EU agent platforms for 2026.
Why teams choose Connic
What you get on day one — without writing connectors, wiring observability, or running infrastructure.
The Bottom Line
AutoGen's maintenance mode makes migration a when, not an if. Microsoft's answer is another framework you host; Connic's answer is a runtime. If you have to move anyway, move once.
Use Connic when
- You need agents running in production, not a framework migration project
- EU data residency and an EU contract counterparty are procurement requirements
- You want managed infrastructure without DevOps overhead
- You need enterprise integrations (webhooks, queues, databases) day one
- You want tracing, evals, and approvals as platform features
Use AutoGen when
- You're committed to the Microsoft ecosystem and Azure AI Foundry is your target
- You need the Microsoft Agent Framework's .NET support
- You're researching conversational multi-agent patterns
- You have an existing AutoGen codebase and platform capacity to keep hosting it
- You want fine-grained control over agent-to-agent communication
Frequently Asked Questions
Is AutoGen still maintained?
What is the Microsoft Agent Framework?
Does AutoGen or the Microsoft Agent Framework offer EU data residency?
Bring the workflow, trigger source, compliance constraints, and deployment path you are evaluating. We will help separate what AutoGen should handle from what belongs in a managed agent runtime.
Compare with SalesStill shortlisting? Here are the others.
Head-to-head comparisons against the platforms most teams weigh alongside Connic. For the full field, survey the 2026 agent deployment platform landscape.
Connic vs CrewAI
Role-based agent orchestration with YAML config. Same philosophy as Connic — Connic adds first-party connectors and managed hosting in every plan.
Connic vs Self-Hosting
Running agents on your own Kubernetes or cloud. Total control — and the full DevOps, on-call, and compliance bill.
Connic vs Zapier Agents
No-code agents on Zapier's action catalog. Fast for business-user automation — no EU data storage, and short on the observability production agents need.
Connic vs LangSmith Deployment
LangChain Inc.'s managed runtime for LangGraph agents (renamed from LangGraph Platform in October 2025). The right home if you've picked LangGraph — a tight fit if you haven't.
Connic vs Vercel
Agentic infrastructure with the eve framework and AI Gateway. Compute can run in Frankfurt — Gateway logs, workflow state, and queue state cannot. Connic keeps every plane in the EU.
Connic vs n8n
German workflow-automation platform with LangChain-based agent nodes. Strong at visual process automation — a different shape from an agent-native runtime with cost tracking and A/B testing.