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
12/36
Guided Assistant
CrewAI
Dimension Breakdown (0-4 each)
Action Capability
AutoGen
3
CrewAI
2
Autonomy
AutoGen
1
CrewAI
1
Planning
AutoGen
2
CrewAI
1
Adaptation
AutoGen
1
CrewAI
0
State & Memory
AutoGen
1
CrewAI
1
Reliability
AutoGen
0
CrewAI
2
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
Choose AutoGen when you are an engineering team building a deeply customized, self-hosted multi-agent system and need code-level control over orchestration, MCP-connected tools, and browser automation. Choose CrewAI AMP when the main challenge is taking collaborative agent workflows into production with visual construction, managed deployment options, and enterprise governance and support; its Enterprise offering is especially suited to organizations that need private Kubernetes/VPC deployment and controls such as SSO, secrets management, and PII protection.
Choose AutoGen if...
- +Choose AutoGen if you are building a custom multi-agent application in Python and need direct control over message passing, event-driven agents, and agent-to-agent orchestration through its Core API.
- +Choose AutoGen if you want to combine specialized sub-agents—for example, research, mathematics, or domain reasoning—with external tools in an application you own and extend.
- +Choose AutoGen if your agents need web interaction or external services through MCP, including Playwright-based browser workflows.
- +Choose AutoGen if you want a free, self-hosted open-source framework, while retaining the option to prototype workflows visually in AutoGen Studio before implementing them in code.
Choose CrewAI if...
- +Choose CrewAI AMP if your priority is operating agentic workflows in production through a visual editor, AI workflow-building copilot, integrated tools, and triggers.
- +Choose CrewAI AMP if you want managed cloud deployment and a commercial path from a limited free plan to Professional or Enterprise usage based on workflow executions and team needs.
- +Choose CrewAI AMP if enterprise deployment requires Kubernetes/VPC-based private infrastructure plus operational controls such as SSO, secret-manager integration, PII detection and masking, and uptime SLAs.
- +Choose CrewAI AMP if your team needs a platform-oriented deployment experience with dedicated support, Slack or Teams support channels, and forward-deployed engineers at the Enterprise tier.