CopilotKit vs Thesys
Updated onCompare CopilotKit and Thesys side-by-side. See how they stack up on features, pricing, and target market.
CopilotKit
CopilotKit is an open-source agentic application framework that helps developers integrate AI copilots and user-facing agents into their applications, with optional hosted cloud and enterprise plans.
Starts at $0 / developer seat / month
vs
Thesys
Thesys is a San Francisco–based startup that provides C1, a Generative UI API and React SDK which converts LLM responses into live, interactive user interfaces for developers and teams.
Starts at $0
Has a free trial
Which should you choose?
CopilotKit
Choose CopilotKit if you want an open‑source, end‑to‑end agentic application framework (with React SDK, Generative UI, agent protocols, and optional self‑hosted or Copilot Cloud deployment) to deeply embed AI copilots into your app.
Thesys
Choose Thesys if you mainly need a managed Generative UI layer that turns existing LLM responses into streaming, interactive React interfaces with strong enterprise‑grade security and OpenAI‑compatible APIs.
Typical cost comparison
Scenario: 2‑person startup prototyping a single AI copilot or assistant using each platform’s free/developer tier.
CopilotKit
$0 per month
Thesys
$0 per month
Both are equally priced in this scenario
Key differences
| Category | CopilotKit | Thesys | Why? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Product Scope & Positioning | CopilotKit is a general agentic application platform spanning backend, state, UI, and agents, while Thesys focuses narrowly on Generative UI as an API layer on top of LLMs, so the better fit depends on whether you need a full agent framework or a UI‑only layer. | ||
| Generative UI Depth | Both offer Generative UI, but Thesys is built from the ground up as “the Generative UI company,” with C1 streaming rich components like charts, tables, and forms, whereas CopilotKit’s Generative UI is one capability within a broader agentic platform. | ||
| Integrations & Ecosystem | CopilotKit ships first‑class integrations with many agent frameworks and supports AG‑UI, MCP and A2A protocols, while Thesys primarily exposes an OpenAI‑compatible API and React SDK, giving CopilotKit broader out‑of‑the‑box agent ecosystem coverage. | ||
| Openness & Self-Hosting | CopilotKit’s core framework is MIT‑licensed open source and explicitly designed to be self‑hosted, with optional Premium and Cloud, while Thesys provides an open‑source SDK but a proprietary hosted C1 API, making CopilotKit generally better for teams prioritizing full self‑hosting. | ||
| Security & Compliance | Thesys markets enterprise‑grade security with zero data retention, GDPR alignment, SOC 2, ISO 27001 and private deployment options, whereas CopilotKit’s public materials focus more on open‑source and platform features than formal compliance claims, so Thesys is stronger for regulated enterprises. |
Feature comparison
| Feature | CopilotKit | Thesys | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| CLI starter / example apps | CopilotKit provides a CLI (npx copilotkit@latest) and starter apps for frameworks like Next.js, while Thesys offers create‑c1‑app scaffolding and multiple open‑source template and demo repos. | ||
| Generative UI / live UI streaming | CopilotKit includes a Generative UI system for rendering state, progress and tool‑calls as custom components, while C1 by Thesys is specifically designed to stream interactive UI from LLM outputs in real time. | ||
| Hosted managed cloud | CopilotKit can be run fully managed on Copilot Cloud in addition to self‑hosting, and Thesys’s C1 is delivered as a managed API service with enterprise options. | ||
| React SDK / UI components | CopilotKit offers an official React client with hooks and components for building in‑app copilots, and Thesys ships a React SDK plus widgets and examples for embedding C1‑generated UI. | ||
| Agent framework & protocol integrations | CopilotKit has built‑in connectors for many agent frameworks and supports AG‑UI, MCP and A2A protocols, while Thesys mainly plugs into whatever agents you already use via its OpenAI‑compatible API and examples. | ||
| Open-source core | CopilotKit’s core framework is MIT‑licensed and fully open source, while Thesys open‑sources its React SDK and examples but not the hosted C1 API itself. | ||
| Self-hosting of core platform | CopilotKit explicitly supports running the full platform self‑hosted using its open‑source core, while Thesys advertises private deployments for C1 but the main control plane remains a proprietary service. | ||
| OpenAI-compatible backend endpoint | Thesys exposes an OpenAI‑compatible HTTP endpoint so you can swap the baseURL in existing OpenAI clients to get Generative UI, whereas CopilotKit focuses on SDK and protocol integrations rather than acting as an OpenAI‑drop‑in API. | ||
| Enterprise security certifications (SOC 2 / ISO 27001 / GDPR) | Thesys markets C1 as offering zero data retention plus GDPR, SOC 2 and ISO 27001 compliance with private deployment options, whereas comparable certifications are not prominently documented for CopilotKit Cloud. |
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