Adding two pandas dataframes

How about x.add(y, fill_value=0)?

import pandas as pd

df1 = pd.DataFrame([(1,2),(3,4),(5,6)], columns=['a','b'])
Out: 
   a  b
0  1  2
1  3  4
2  5  6

df2 = pd.DataFrame([(100,200),(300,400),(500,600)], columns=['a','b'])
Out: 
     a    b
0  100  200
1  300  400
2  500  600

df_add = df1.add(df2, fill_value=0)
Out: 
     a    b
0  101  202
1  303  404
2  505  606

If I understand you correctly, you want something like:

(x.reindex_like(y).fillna(0) + y.fillna(0).fillna(0))

This will give the sum of the two dataframes. If a value is in one dataframe and not the other, the result at that position will be that existing value (look at B0 in X and B0 in Y and look at final output). If a value is missing in both dataframes, the result at that position will be zero (look at B1 in X and B1 in Y and look at final output).

>>> x
   A   B   C
0  1   2 NaN
1  3 NaN   4
>>> y
    A   B   C
0   8 NaN  88
1   2 NaN   5
2  10  11  12
>>> (x.reindex_like(y).fillna(0) + y.fillna(0).fillna(0))
    A   B   C
0   9   2  88
1   5   0   9
2  10  11  12