Agentic AI Comparison:
AGENTS.inc vs Phala Network
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Introduction
This report compares AGENTS.inc (a no-code AI agent creation and marketplace platform) and Phala Network (a decentralized TEE-based coprocessor and AI-agent execution layer for Web3) across five metrics: autonomy, ease of use, flexibility, cost, and popularity, focusing on how each supports building and running AI agents.
Overview
Phala Network
Phala Network is a decentralized cloud and DePIN coprocessor that offers an AI-Agent Contract platform and TEE-secured blockspace for running autonomous, verifiable AI agents and off-chain computations for Web3 protocols. It emphasizes secure, confidential execution (via TEEs), cross-chain interoperability, cryptographic attestations, and on-chain verifiability, positioning itself as foundational infrastructure for trustless, autonomous agents in crypto and decentralized finance.
AGENTS.inc
AGENTS.inc is a web-based platform that lets users create, configure, and publish AI agents through a visual interface, without needing to write code, and then deploy them in an agent marketplace or integrate them into applications for end users. It focuses on application-layer agent design, monetization, and distribution, providing templates, management dashboards, and integrations so non-technical and semi-technical users can rapidly build useful agents.
Metrics Comparison
autonomy
AGENTS.inc: 7
AGENTS.inc supports configurable, task-oriented AI agents that can act semi-autonomously within workflows and marketplaces, but their autonomy is primarily bounded by the platform’s orchestration and typical SaaS-style constraints rather than full cryptoeconomic self-governance.
Phala Network: 9
Phala’s AI-Agent Contract and TEE-secured environment explicitly target highly autonomous, verifiable agents that can manage wallets, operate under user-defined guardrails, generate cryptographic attestations for each action, and even pursue revenue to cover their own compute costs, enabling strong forms of on-chain, self-governing behavior.
Both platforms enable autonomous agents, but AGENTS.inc focuses on application-level autonomy (tasks and workflows), whereas Phala is built to support deeply autonomous, economically active agents in a trustless, on-chain or cross-chain context with strong cryptographic guarantees.
ease of use
AGENTS.inc: 9
AGENTS.inc is designed as an accessible agent HQ with a graphical interface, prebuilt agent templates, and no-code configuration aimed at a broad audience, minimizing the need for infrastructure management or blockchain-specific knowledge, making agent creation and deployment highly approachable.
Phala Network: 6
Phala targets developers and Web3 projects, requiring familiarity with blockchain concepts, TEE-based off-chain compute, and smart contract-style integrations, and is described as having powerful but relatively complex infrastructure compared to simple Web2-style SaaS platforms.
AGENTS.inc is significantly easier for non-technical users to start building agents quickly, while Phala Network has a steeper learning curve oriented toward technical teams building decentralized, verifiable agent systems.
flexibility
AGENTS.inc: 8
AGENTS.inc offers flexible agent composition at the application layer, letting users design different roles, behaviors, and integrations within its platform, but this flexibility is bounded by the feature set and APIs that AGENTS.inc exposes.
Phala Network: 9
Phala functions as a generalized execution layer and AI-Agent Ready blockspace for Web3, supporting cross-chain AI agents, composable trust architectures with TEEs and ZKPs, and integrations across DeFi, trading, and other protocol-level use cases, giving developers broad flexibility in how they architect agent systems.
AGENTS.inc is more flexible for high-level agent behavior design within a managed platform, whereas Phala Network is more flexible as low-level, programmable infrastructure for a wide range of decentralized and cross-chain agent architectures.
cost
AGENTS.inc: 7
AGENTS.inc follows a SaaS-style model where costs are tied to platform usage and any pricing tiers for agent hosting and marketplace participation; this simplifies cost predictability for users but offers less direct control over underlying compute economics.
Phala Network: 8
Phala uses the PHA token for participation, governance, and payment for TEE compute, enabling market-based pricing and letting agents effectively pay for their own infrastructure; while this can be complex, it can be cost-efficient at scale and aligns costs closely with actual usage.
AGENTS.inc likely feels simpler and more predictable in pricing for typical SaaS users, whereas Phala’s token-based model can provide better alignment with usage and autonomy for agents but introduces crypto-related volatility and complexity.
popularity
AGENTS.inc: 6
AGENTS.inc is a focused agent platform with a growing user base and marketplace presence, but it is relatively new and less widely cited in the broader crypto and AI infrastructure ecosystem compared to large protocol-level projects.
Phala Network: 8
Phala Network has been active since around 2020, is frequently listed among leading AI-agent and DePIN-oriented crypto projects, and is integrated with multiple Web3 partners and platforms, giving it higher visibility and adoption in the decentralized AI and crypto communities.
AGENTS.inc is emerging primarily in the application-layer AI agent space, while Phala Network has stronger name recognition and ecosystem integration on the Web3 infrastructure side, reflected in listings, analyses, and multiple protocol partnerships.
Conclusions
AGENTS.inc and Phala Network occupy complementary layers of the AI-agent stack rather than directly competing: AGENTS.inc streamlines the creation and deployment of practical, marketplace-ready agents for non-technical users, excelling in ease of use and rapid application development, while Phala Network provides a secure, TEE-based decentralized execution and coordination environment for highly autonomous, verifiable, and cross-chain agents in Web3. For users prioritizing low-friction, no-code agent building, AGENTS.inc is generally the better fit, whereas teams needing cryptographically verifiable autonomy, asset management, and deep blockchain integration will typically benefit more from building on Phala Network.