abc.ABC basically just an extra layer over metaclass=abc.ABCMeta. i.e abc.ABC implicitly defines the metaclass for us.
(Source: https://hg.python.org/cpython/file/3.4/Lib/abc.py#l234)
class ABC(metaclass=ABCMeta):
"""Helper class that provides a standard way to create an ABC using
inheritance.
"""
pass
The only difference is that in the former case you need a simple inheritance and in the latter you need to specify the metaclass.
From What’s new in Python 3.4(emphasis mine):
New class
ABChasABCMetaas its meta class. UsingABCas a base
class has essentially the same effect as specifying
metaclass=abc.ABCMeta, but is simpler to type and easier to read.
Related issue: Create abstract base classes by inheritance rather than a direct invocation of __metaclass__