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Voice agents · agent framework

Vision Agents: review, pricing, security and alternatives

Vision Agents is an open-source agent framework published by Stream, in the voice agents family. A Python framework for building voice and vision agents with different models and video providers. Its repository has 8,185 stars and its last commit is from September 23, 2026.

Open sourceSelf-hostableActively maintainedLow risk

What Vision Agents does

Vision Agents belongs to the voice agents family: agents that listen and answer out loud, on the phone or in an app, in real time. On our grid it ranks #3 of the 3 projects of this family listed in the directory.

A framework is not used as is: it is a library developers build into their own code to describe the agent's tools, decision loop and memory. It requires programming skills, but leaves control over every detail.

You use it from: developer SDK. Usable models: any OpenAI-compatible model. It can run on your own machine or server.

Who is Vision Agents for?

It targets companies that want an agent able to hold a spoken conversation, on the phone or in an app. Typical tasks people give it:

  • answer simple calls and book appointments
  • qualify a caller before transferring
  • add a voice interface to an app

It is a good candidate if your data must stay on your machines.

Access and human control

A framework has no access of its own: the tools you plug in define what the agent can do. Start with read-only tools.

We could not establish whether it asks for human approval before sensitive actions: test it first on an unimportant account or folder.

Vision Agents pricing

The code is free, under the Apache-2.0 licence.

Getting started with Vision Agents

  1. Install it: the project ships as a Python package (install with pip or uv). The exact command is in the repository README.
  2. Create an API key with the model provider and put it in an environment variable, never in a shared or versioned file.
  3. Start with the minimal example from the docs, then add one tool at a time and check what the agent does with it.
  4. Give it a short, checkable task, review the result and its action log, then raise the difficulty step by step.

Security: risk level

A voice agent records voices, which are sensitive personal data: inform callers and check where recordings are stored.

Three habits: least privilege (minimal rights, dedicated keys), human approval for irreversible actions, a sandbox for code execution. The AI agent security check reviews your setup in a few minutes.

Project activity and releases

Created on August 11, 2025, the GetStream/Vision-Agents repository has 8,185 stars, 697 forks and 3 open issues, with 1,164 commits in total. Last change 1 month ago.

Over the last 52 weeks: 402 commits, an average of 7.7 per week.

Nov 2, : 11 · Nov 2, 2025Nov 2,Nov 9, : 21 · Nov 9, 2025Nov 16, : 37 · Nov 16, 2025Nov 23, : 14 · Nov 23, 2025Nov 30, : 9 · Nov 30, 2025Dec 7, : 14 · Dec 7, 2025Dec 14, : 11 · Dec 14, 2025Dec 21, : 6 · Dec 21, 2025Dec 28, : 2 · Dec 28, 2025Dec 28,Jan 4, : 9 · Jan 4, 2026Jan 11, : 11 · Jan 11, 2026Jan 18, : 9 · Jan 18, 2026Jan 25, : 15 · Jan 25, 2026Feb 1, : 4 · Feb 1, 2026Feb 8, : 15 · Feb 8, 2026Feb 15, : 8 · Feb 15, 2026Feb 22, : 7 · Feb 22, 2026Feb 22,Mar 1, : 10 · Mar 1, 2026Mar 8, : 15 · Mar 8, 2026Mar 15, : 17 · Mar 15, 2026Mar 22, : 14 · Mar 22, 2026Mar 29, : 16 · Mar 29, 2026Apr 5, : 6 · Apr 5, 2026Apr 12, : 9 · Apr 12, 2026Apr 19, : 12 · Apr 19, 2026Apr 19,Apr 26, : 10 · Apr 26, 2026May 3, : 8 · May 3, 2026May 10, : 8 · May 10, 2026May 17, : 4 · May 17, 2026May 24, : 23 · May 24, 2026May 31, : 10 · May 31, 2026Jun 7, : 7 · Jun 7, 2026Jun 14, : 2 · Jun 14, 2026Jun 14,Jun 21, : 3 · Jun 21, 2026Jun 28, : 3 · Jun 28, 2026Jul 5, : 2 · Jul 5, 2026Jul 12, : 2 · Jul 12, 2026Jul 19, : 3 · Jul 19, 2026Jul 26, : 1 · Jul 26, 2026Aug 2, : 3 · Aug 2, 2026Aug 9, : 1 · Aug 9, 2026Aug 9,Aug 16, : 3 · Aug 16, 2026Aug 23, : 3 · Aug 23, 2026Aug 30, : 2 · Aug 30, 2026Sep 6, : 0 · Sep 6, 2026Sep 13, : 0 · Sep 13, 2026Sep 20, : 1 · Sep 20, 2026Sep 27, : 1 · Sep 27, 2026Oct 4, : 0 · Oct 4, 2026Oct 4,Oct 11, : 0 · Oct 11, 2026Oct 18, : 0 · Oct 18, 2026Oct 25, : 0 · Oct 25, 2026Oct 25,
Commits per week on the main repository, last 52 weeks (GitHub API, checked October 25, 2026).

59 releases in total; 30 in the last twelve months. Latest release: v0.6.9, on August 13, 2026.

v0.4.7 · Mar 27, 2026v0.4.7Mar 27, 2026v0.5.0 · Apr 1, 2026v0.5.1 · Apr 7, 2026v0.5.2 · Apr 13, 2026v0.5.3 · Apr 14, 2026v0.5.4 · Apr 15, 2026v0.5.5 · Apr 27, 2026v0.5.7 · May 7, 2026v0.5.8 · May 13, 2026v0.5.9 · May 15, 2026v0.6.0 · May 18, 2026v0.6.1 · May 20, 2026v0.6.2 · May 26, 2026v0.6.3 · Jun 5, 2026v0.6.4 · Jun 11, 2026v0.6.5 · Jun 30, 2026v0.6.6 · Jul 1, 2026v0.6.7 · Jul 14, 2026v0.6.8 · Jul 21, 2026v0.6.9 · Aug 13, 2026v0.6.9Aug 13, 2026
The latest 20 releases published on GitHub (hover a point for details).

Vision Agents and other voice agents at a glance

The 2 best-ranked agents in the same family, 2 of them open source. The score out of 100 only applies to open-source projects; for proprietary services we show the published entry price. A dash marks information the documentation does not state.

Quick comparison: voice agents
AgentModelScoreStars or entry priceSelf-hostableHuman approval
Vision Agentsopen source738.2K ★yes–
Pipecatopen source8216.8K ★yes–
LiveKit Agentsopen source8114.9K ★yes–

How we rated it

Score: 73/100, computed only from public, verifiable data, with no subjective testing or partnership:

  • Adoption 23/40: 8,185 stars on a log scale (40 points from about 200,000).
  • Activity 25/30: last commit 1 month ago, 14 releases in six months, 402 commits in a year.
  • Framework 25/30: licence, default human approval, self-hosting, model choice and documentation site.

The score does not say whether the agent will succeed at your tasks: it measures how solid the project is. The full grid is on the method page.

Verdict

Vision Agents is a serious option; check the limitations below before granting it access.

Strengths

  • Frequent releases (30 in a year)
  • Can run on your side: data under control
  • Free choice of model
  • Permissive licence (Apache-2.0)

Limitations

  • Requires programming skills

Avoid if…

  • You want a ready-made agent, without code

Frequently asked questions

Is Vision Agents free?

The software is free (Apache-2.0 licence). You still pay for the model calls, unless you use a local model.

Is Vision Agents safe?

Our risk level: low. Give it minimum rights and approve irreversible actions.

Which models does Vision Agents use?

According to its documentation: any OpenAI-compatible model.

Can Vision Agents be installed on your own server?

Yes, from the GetStream/Vision-Agents repository. Data then stays with you, but security and updates are your job.

What are the alternatives to Vision Agents?

In the same family: Pipecat and LiveKit Agents.

Vision Agents or Pipecat: what is the difference?

Both belong to the voice agents family. Vision Agents has 8.2K stars against 16.8K for Pipecat. The right choice mostly depends on the access you are willing to give it.

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Neutrality. No affiliate links. No vendor pays to be reviewed, rated or ranked. Reviews are directed by François Chollet, neutral and factual, and every data point is dated and sourced. How we score