Side-by-side comparison
AutoGen vs CrewAI
vs
Side-by-side comparison based on our agenticness evaluation framework
At a glance
Quick Facts
| Feature | AutoGen | CrewAI |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Multi-Agent Orchestration, Agent Frameworks & Orchestration | Multi-Agent Orchestration, Agent Frameworks & Orchestration |
| Deployment | Self-hosted | Hybrid (cloud + self-hosted) |
| Autonomy Level | Semi-autonomous | Semi-autonomous |
| Model Support | Multi-model | Single model |
| Open Source | Yes | Yes |
| MCP Support | Yes | -- |
| Team Support | Small team | Enterprise |
| Pricing Model | Free / open source | Freemium |
| Interface | api, gui, cli | gui, web, api |
36-point evaluation
Agenticness
14/36
Adaptive Collaborator
AutoGen
11/36
Guided Assistant
CrewAI
Dimension Breakdown (0-4 each)
Action Capability
AutoGen
3
CrewAI
2
Autonomy
AutoGen
2
CrewAI
1
Planning
AutoGen
2
CrewAI
2
Adaptation
AutoGen
1
CrewAI
0
State & Memory
AutoGen
1
CrewAI
0
Reliability
AutoGen
0
CrewAI
1
Interoperability
AutoGen
2
CrewAI
1
Safety
AutoGen
1
CrewAI
2
Scores from our agenticness evaluation framework. Higher is more autonomous.
Features & Use Cases
AutoGen
Features
- Builds multi-agent AI applications
- Provides a low-level Core API for message passing and event-driven agents
- Includes AgentChat for higher-level multi-agent patterns
- Supports extensions for model clients and tools
- Can connect to MCP servers for external tool use
- Works with OpenAI models in the quickstart examples
- Includes AutoGen Studio for no-code workflow prototyping
- Supports browser-based workflows through Playwright MCP
Use Cases
- Developing custom multi-agent assistants for internal workflows
- Prototyping agent workflows without writing code in AutoGen Studio
- Building tool-using assistants that can browse the web through MCP
- Orchestrating expert sub-agents for tasks like math, research, or domain-specific reasoning
- Extending existing applications with agent behavior and external integrations
CrewAI
Features
- Visual editor for building agentic workflows
- AI copilot for workflow creation
- Integrated tools and triggers
- Workflow execution limits by plan
- Cloud SaaS deployment
- Self-hosted deployment via Kubernetes and VPC for Enterprise
- SSO for Enterprise
- Secret manager integration for Enterprise
Use Cases
- Teams building production AI agent workflows with a visual interface
- Organizations that want to deploy agents in a managed cloud environment
- Enterprises that need self-hosted agent infrastructure on private cloud or on-prem systems
- Developers who want to prototype an agent workflow and later scale it for production
Pricing
AutoGen
- **Free / open source** — full functionality available at no cost.
CrewAI
- **Free (Basic):** Free tier with a visual editor, AI copilot, integrated tools and triggers, and 50 workflow executions per month.
- **Professional ($25/month):** Includes everything in Basic, plus 1 additional seat, 100 workflow executions per month, and support via the community forum.
- **Enterprise:** Custom pricing. Includes SaaS or self-hosted deployment via Kubernetes and VPC, SOC2, SSO, secret manager integration, PII detection and masking, dedicated support, uptime SLAs, Slack or Teams support channels, and forward-deployed engineers.
Analysis
Our Verdict
Pick AutoGen when you’re building a custom multi-agent orchestration system as a developer and want flexible control over agent-to-agent messaging/event-driven behavior, plus strong extension/tooling options like MCP server connections and Playwright-based browser workflows in a fully self-hosted, open-source Python framework. Pick CrewAI AMP when you’re moving from prototypes to production workflow operations and want a visual workflow builder (with an AI copilot), managed lifecycle capabilities, and enterprise features like SSO, secret manager integration, PII detection/masking, and Kubernetes/VPC self-hosting—starting with a free tier that includes a limited number of monthly workflow executions.
Choose AutoGen if...
- +Choose AutoGen if you’re a developer building custom multi-agent systems and want control over agent-to-agent interaction via its low-level Core runtime (message passing/event-driven agents) plus higher-level AgentChat patterns for faster orchestration.
- +Choose AutoGen if your workflows need tool use beyond simple prompts—especially connecting to MCP servers and using Playwright-based browser workflows for web/browsing actions as shown in the examples.
- +Choose AutoGen if you want a self-hosted, open-source framework with Python 3.10+ setup where you can integrate specific model clients (e.g., the quickstart shows OpenAI models) and extend via extension packages for tools and clients rather than being constrained to a managed platform workflow format.
- +Choose AutoGen Studio if you want to prototype agent workflows in a no-code environment but still stay within the AutoGen ecosystem (i.e., move between prototyping and code).
Choose CrewAI if...
- +Choose CrewAI AMP if your team wants a production-oriented platform centered on a visual editor and an AI copilot to create agentic workflows, especially when you need built-in tools/triggers without writing the orchestration logic from scratch.
- +Choose CrewAI if you want the lifecycle capabilities for deploying and managing workflows—starting from a free Basic plan (50 workflow executions/month) and scaling to Professional/Enterprise—with a straightforward path to team-based operations.
- +Choose CrewAI if you require enterprise-grade governance features in addition to deployment (e.g., SSO, secret manager integration, PII detection and masking, SOC2, and uptime SLAs), plus options for self-hosting via Kubernetes and VPC.
- +Choose CrewAI if you prefer a hybrid deployment model where cloud SaaS is available, but you also have an enterprise self-hosted route for private infrastructure.