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Semantic Kernel Review 2026 — Microsoft's AI SDK for .NET and Python
Semantic Kernel is Microsoft's open-source AI SDK for .NET, C#, Python, and Java. Enterprise LangChain alternative with Azure AI integration. Free MIT license.
Semantic Kernel lets developers connect language models to application code, create agents, register plugins, orchestrate multi-agent workflows, and integrate vector databases and external services.
It supports Python, .NET, and Java on Windows, macOS, and Linux. The SDK itself is free under the MIT license, but model providers, hosted services, databases, and other connected services may charge separately. Microsoft identifies Microsoft Agent Framework as its successor.
Features
- Build AI agents with model-provider connectors
- Orchestrate workflows involving multiple specialized agents
- Add native functions, prompt templates, OpenAPI tools, and MCP plugins
- Integrate vector databases including Azure AI Search, Elasticsearch, and Chroma
- Process text, vision, and audio inputs
- Run models locally through Ollama, LM Studio, or ONNX
- Use structured process workflows and observability hooks
- MIT-licensed open-source SDK
Use cases
- Build chatbots that call application functions
- Create multi-agent systems for business workflows
- Connect language models to existing APIs and enterprise data
- Add retrieval-augmented generation with vector databases
- Run AI assistants across Python, .NET, and Java applications