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 want developer-level flexibility to design and orchestrate custom multi-agent behaviors (Core API + AgentChat) and integrate advanced external tools like MCP servers and Playwright-based browser workflows, with a free, self-hosted open-source Python stack and optional no-code prototyping in AutoGen Studio. Pick CrewAI AMP when you want a workflow platform that emphasizes visual building/testing, team-oriented collaboration, and a clear path from prototype to production—starting with the Basic free tier and scaling through managed cloud or enterprise self-hosted (Kubernetes/VPC) with operational controls like SSO, secret management, PII detection/masking, and enterprise SLAs/support.
Choose AutoGen if...
- +Choose AutoGen if you’re a developer building custom multi-agent systems and want to control the agent-to-agent orchestration using the low-level Core API / higher-level AgentChat patterns (not just assemble prebuilt workflow blocks).
- +Choose AutoGen if your workflow needs tight tool integration with external infrastructure—especially MCP server connections—and browser automation via Playwright-based MCP workflows.
- +Choose AutoGen if you want the option to prototype quickly and extend with code: AutoGen Studio for no-code workflow prototyping, plus an open-source, self-hosted Python 3.10+ setup that can integrate with OpenAI models from the quickstart examples.
Choose CrewAI if...
- +Choose CrewAI AMP if you want a more “production-ready” agent workflow platform with a visual editor and an AI copilot to help build workflows, then manage execution limits and scale beyond prototypes.
- +Choose CrewAI AMP if your team prefers hosted or enterprise-grade deployment options: cloud SaaS by default, or Enterprise self-hosted on Kubernetes/VPC with SSO, secret manager integration, and PII detection/masking.
- +Choose CrewAI AMP if you’re moving toward operational requirements like uptime/SLAs and dedicated enterprise support, and you expect to pay per workflow executions and seats as usage grows (starting from the free Basic tier with 50 executions/month).