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
13/36
Adaptive Collaborator
AutoGen
9/36
Guided Assistant
CrewAI
Dimension Breakdown (0-4 each)
Action Capability
AutoGen
3
CrewAI
1
Autonomy
AutoGen
3
CrewAI
2
Planning
AutoGen
2
CrewAI
1
Adaptation
AutoGen
0
CrewAI
0
State & Memory
AutoGen
1
CrewAI
0
Reliability
AutoGen
0
CrewAI
1
Interoperability
AutoGen
2
CrewAI
1
Safety
AutoGen
0
CrewAI
1
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
Choose AutoGen when your team wants a developer-centric, Python-based framework for deeply custom multi-agent orchestration, MCP-connected tools, and Playwright browser automation, with self-hosted open-source use at no cost. Choose CrewAI AMP when you need a visual platform to take agent workflows through deployment and operations, particularly if managed cloud delivery or enterprise controls such as Kubernetes/VPC deployment, SSO, secret handling, PII masking, and SLAs matter.
Choose AutoGen if...
- +Choose AutoGen if you need to engineer custom multi-agent behavior in Python, using its low-level Core API for message passing and event-driven agents rather than working primarily in a visual workflow builder.
- +Choose AutoGen if your agents need browser-driven web workflows: its Playwright MCP integration is suited to building assistants that interact with websites through browser automation.
- +Choose AutoGen if you want to connect agent workflows to MCP servers for external tools and compose specialized sub-agents—for example, research, math, or domain-reasoning agents—through AgentChat or the lower-level runtime.
- +Choose AutoGen if you need a fully free, self-hosted open-source framework and also want the option to rapidly mock up workflows in AutoGen Studio before implementing them in code.
Choose CrewAI if...
- +Choose CrewAI AMP if your priority is a visual, full-lifecycle environment for building, testing, deploying, and managing production agent workflows, including an AI copilot for creating those workflows.
- +Choose CrewAI AMP if you want managed cloud deployment and a pricing model based on seats and workflow executions, starting with a free tier that includes 50 monthly executions.
- +Choose CrewAI AMP if an enterprise deployment requires Kubernetes- and VPC-based self-hosting, along with operational commitments such as dedicated support and uptime SLAs.
- +Choose CrewAI AMP if production governance requirements include enterprise SSO, secret-manager integration, or PII detection and masking.