# OpenAI SDK review

> OpenAI SDK is the official Python library for the OpenAI API, with typed sync and async clients generated from OpenAI's OpenAPI specification.

Devtoolwatch Board, the week of Oct 25–31, 2026. Canonical page: https://index.devtoolwatch.com/tools/openai-sdk/

## TL;DR

OpenAI SDK is the official Python library for calling the OpenAI REST API from Python 3.10+ applications. It is for Python developers building on OpenAI models. It ships typed requests and responses, sync and async clients, streaming, Realtime WebSocket support, and workload identity authentication for cloud environments.

## OpenAI SDK at a glance

- **Category:** [Model SDKs and gateways](https://index.devtoolwatch.com/categories/model-sdks-and-gateways/)
- **Maintained by:** OpenAI (organization, [@openai](https://github.com/openai) on GitHub)
- **License:** Apache 2.0
- **Language:** Python, JavaScript, Shell
- **Repository:** [github.com/openai/openai-python](https://github.com/openai/openai-python)
- **Website:** [pypi.org/project/openai](https://pypi.org/project/openai/)
- **npm package:** [openai](https://www.npmjs.com/package/openai) 7.41.0
- **PyPI package:** [openai](https://pypi.org/project/openai/) 3.36.0
- **Latest release:** [v3.36.0](https://github.com/openai/openai-python/releases/tag/v3.36.0) on GitHub, Oct 21, 2026
- **First published:** Oct 25, 2020

## What OpenAI SDK does

- OpenAI SDK calls the Responses API and the Chat Completions API to generate text from OpenAI models.
- OpenAI SDK offers synchronous and asynchronous clients built on HTTPX2, with optional aiohttp transport for async concurrency.
- OpenAI SDK streams responses using Server-Sent Events in both sync and async clients.
- OpenAI SDK connects to the Realtime API over WebSockets for text and audio input and output, plus function calling.
- OpenAI SDK provides TypedDict request parameters and Pydantic response models with to_json() and to_dict() helpers.
- OpenAI SDK auto-paginates list methods, fetching successive pages as you iterate.
- OpenAI SDK supports workload identity authentication with short-lived tokens on Kubernetes, Azure, Google Cloud, X.509 mTLS, or custom providers.

### How it works

You install the openai package and create an OpenAI or AsyncOpenAI client in Python code. The client reads OPENAI_API_KEY from the environment by default and sends requests to the OpenAI REST API over HTTPX2. Realtime sessions use the websockets library. The library is generated from OpenAI's OpenAPI specification.

## How to install OpenAI SDK

**With pip**

```
pip install openai
```

**With aiohttp transport**

```
pip install openai[aiohttp]
```

### Requirements

- Python 3.10 or later.
- An OpenAI API key, or workload identity configuration in supported cloud environments.

### First steps

1. Install the package with pip install openai.
2. Get an API key from the OpenAI platform and add OPENAI_API_KEY to a .env file, for example with python-dotenv.
3. Create a client with OpenAI() and call client.responses.create with a model and input.
4. Print response.output_text to see the generated text.

## Who OpenAI SDK is for

- Python developers building applications on OpenAI models through the Responses or Chat Completions API.
- Teams running on Kubernetes, Azure, or Google Cloud that want short-lived tokens instead of long-lived API keys.
- Developers building low-latency text and audio conversational apps with the Realtime API.

### Limitations

- OpenAI SDK targets the OpenAI API and requires Python 3.10 or later.
- OpenAI SDK X.509 workload identity supports HTTP APIs only. Realtime and WebSockets are not included, and Azure clients do not support it.
- OpenAI SDK raises no errors directly for Realtime error events, so your code must handle them.

## Usage data (the week of Oct 25–31, 2026)

- Board rank: #180 overall, #7 in Model SDKs and gateways, momentum score 47
- Downloads that week: 141.3M (+9% vs 4-week average)
- New GitHub stars per week (last 12 weeks): Aug 9: 62; Aug 16: 66; Aug 23: 76; Aug 30: 65; Sep 6: 75; Sep 13: 54; Sep 20: 62; Sep 27: 57; Oct 4: 76; Oct 11: 78; Oct 18: 94; Oct 25: 75

## OpenAI SDK alternatives

| Rank | Tool | Stars | Downloads/wk |
|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | [thinking-orbs](https://index.devtoolwatch.com/tools/jakubantalik-thinking-orbs/) | 3.9k | 1.4M |
| #2 | [Headroom](https://index.devtoolwatch.com/tools/headroomlabs-ai-headroom/) | 78.5k | 125.8k |
| #3 | [LiteLLM](https://index.devtoolwatch.com/tools/litellm/) | 62.5k | 23.1M |
| #4 | [Honcho](https://index.devtoolwatch.com/tools/plastic-labs-honcho/) | 7.9k | – |
| #5 | [Anthropic SDK](https://index.devtoolwatch.com/tools/anthropic-sdk/) | 4k | 111M |
| #6 | [Hugging Face Hub](https://index.devtoolwatch.com/tools/hf-hub/) | 4k | 68.3M |

## OpenAI SDK FAQ

### Is OpenAI SDK free and open source?

Yes. OpenAI SDK's source code is on GitHub (openai/openai-python) under the Apache 2.0 license, so you can use it for free.

### How do I install OpenAI SDK?

Run `pip install openai`. It needs Node.js >=22.0.0. The install section above has the other options from the project's README.

### Is OpenAI SDK still maintained?

Yes. The openai/openai-python repository was last updated on Oct 22, 2026, and the latest release, v3.36.0 on GitHub, came out on Oct 21, 2026.

### How popular is OpenAI SDK?

OpenAI SDK has 32k GitHub stars as of Nov 1, 2026. It gained 75 new stars in the week of Oct 25–31, 2026, against a 12-week average of 70 a week. Its main package had about 141.3M downloads that week, +9% against its own 4-week average. That made it #7 among LLM SDKs and gateways on the Devtoolwatch Board.

### OpenAI SDK vs OpenAI Agents SDK: how do they compare?

OpenAI SDK and OpenAI Agents SDK are both tracked by Devtoolwatch. OpenAI SDK has 32k GitHub stars and OpenAI Agents SDK has 30.4k. In the week of Oct 25–31, 2026, OpenAI SDK's main package had 141.3M downloads and OpenAI Agents SDK's had 6.9M. OpenAI Agents SDK is a Python framework from OpenAI for building multi-agent workflows with tools, handoffs, guardrails, sessions and tracing. [OpenAI Agents SDK review](https://index.devtoolwatch.com/tools/openai-agents/)

### OpenAI SDK vs LangChain: how do they compare?

OpenAI SDK and LangChain are both tracked by Devtoolwatch. OpenAI SDK has 32k GitHub stars and LangChain has 148.8k. In the week of Oct 25–31, 2026, OpenAI SDK's main package had 141.3M downloads and LangChain's had 41.1M. [LangChain review](https://index.devtoolwatch.com/tools/langchain/)

### What are the best alternatives to OpenAI SDK?

Other LLM SDKs and gateways on the Devtoolwatch Board in the week of Oct 25–31, 2026, by momentum: thinking-orbs (#1), Headroom (#2), LiteLLM (#3), Honcho (#4), Anthropic SDK (#5). The alternatives table above has their numbers.

### What is the difference between the OpenAI SDK and the OpenAI API?

The OpenAI SDK is a Python library that wraps the OpenAI REST API. It adds typed requests and responses, sync and async clients, streaming, auto-pagination, and authentication helpers. The REST API documentation lives on platform.openai.com.

### Should I use the Responses API or Chat Completions in the OpenAI SDK?

The README names the Responses API as the primary API for interacting with OpenAI models. Chat Completions is the previous standard and is supported indefinitely. The OpenAI SDK supports both.

### Does the OpenAI SDK support async code?

Yes. The OpenAI SDK has an AsyncOpenAI client you use with await. Its functionality is otherwise identical to the sync client. You can optionally use aiohttp as the transport for better concurrency.

### Is there a TypeScript version of the OpenAI SDK?

Yes. OpenAI publishes an official TypeScript library on npm under the name openai. It requires Node.js 22.0.0 or later.

### Can the OpenAI SDK authenticate without an API key?

Yes. The OpenAI SDK supports workload identity authentication with short-lived tokens. Supported options are Kubernetes service accounts, Azure managed identity, Google Cloud metadata, custom JWT providers, and X.509 mutual TLS.

## Sources

1. [openai/openai-python on GitHub](https://github.com/openai/openai-python)
2. [OpenAI SDK README](https://github.com/openai/openai-python/blob/main/README.md)
3. [openai on npm](https://www.npmjs.com/package/openai)
4. [openai on PyPI](https://pypi.org/project/openai/)
5. [OpenAI SDK website](https://pypi.org/project/openai/)
6. [Release v3.36.0 (Oct 21, 2026)](https://github.com/openai/openai-python/releases/tag/v3.36.0)
7. [Release v3.35.1 (Oct 18, 2026)](https://github.com/openai/openai-python/releases/tag/v3.35.1)
8. [Release v3.35.0 (Oct 17, 2026)](https://github.com/openai/openai-python/releases/tag/v3.35.0)
9. [Hacker News: PyPI Was Subpoenaed](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36061407)
10. [Hacker News: Black, the uncompromising Python code formatter, is stable](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30130315)
11. [Hacker News: ChatML: ChatGPT API expects a structured format, called Chat Markup Language](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34988748)
12. [Devtoolwatch Board, the week of Oct 25–31, 2026](https://index.devtoolwatch.com/)