CrewAI vs AutoGen: license, pricing and features compared (October 2026)
CrewAI and AutoGen are both listed under Agent building. License: CrewAI is MIT; AutoGen is MIT (code) and CC-BY-4.0 (docs), per GitHub. GitHub stars on Oct 25, 2026: AutoGen 61,562 (microsoft/autogen) vs CrewAI 60,100 (crewAIInc/crewAI). Stars measure attention, not quality. CrewAI is the better fit for: developers who want role-based multi-agent flows. AutoGen is the better fit for: existing AutoGen projects that need reference material. Facts were read from vendor and GitHub pages on Oct 25, 2026 and are Reported; what we ran ourselves is under What we measured.
Our pick: Pick CrewAI for developers who want role-based multi-agent flows; pick AutoGen for existing AutoGen projects that need reference material. No overall winner: we have not benchmarked them against each other. Updated (America/Chicago).
Evidence: Both tools have a Tested entry (scope on each tool page). The facts in the tables were read from each vendor's own pages and the public GitHub API on 2026-10-25 (America/Chicago) and are Reported. The What we measured section lists what we have actually run, with links to the test logs, and what we have not run yet; anything we could not confirm is marked as not captured.
CrewAI · 1.15.30
Tested (smoke test)
Reasonable if you like the crew-of-agents mental model; the memory and tool-loop fixes in this release are worth taking.
Microsoft · python-v0.7.5
Tested (smoke test)
Microsoft's open-source multi-agent framework; its README now says the project is in maintenance mode and points to Microsoft Agent Framework.
Side by side, from what we recorded
Each row compares one recorded fact for both tools. Rows are not weighted and nothing is added up into a score; the note under each row says what the marker means.
Evidence
Tested (smoke test) for CrewAITested (smoke test) for AutoGenTested = we ran it (smoke test); Reported = we read official sources
Smoke-test result
Passed for CrewAIPassed for AutoGenEach tool's own smoke test on the same CPU-only machine; tasks differ unless the logs say otherwise
Release date
Oct 23, 2026 (CrewAI is ahead on this row) for CrewAISep 30, 2025 for AutoGenNewer date only; says nothing about quality
Pricing we could verify
Not verified for CrewAIVerified from official page (AutoGen is ahead on this row) for AutoGenAbout our evidence only, not about the price
Steps in our setup guide
3 for CrewAI2 for AutoGenCounts our guide's steps, not difficulty
Sources we cite
3 for CrewAI2 for AutoGenHow much we had to read; more is not better
A list of recorded differences, not a quality score or a ranking. We have not benchmarked these tools against each other; the smoke-test row links each tool's own log. How we label evidence.
What we measured
We ran both CrewAI and AutoGen ourselves; the table links each full test log. These are smoke tests on one CPU-only machine, not benchmarks. Both ran the same task on the same local model, so the two results are comparable on that one task only. Model-driven runs used a small local Qwen2.5-3B-Instruct model.
| Test | CrewAI | AutoGen |
|---|---|---|
| Hands-on test log (install and a real task) | Tested: CrewAI 1.15.30, Oct 25, 2026: passed. CrewAI 1.15.30 passed our one-tool task on a local 3B model: 3 of 3 trials; cold uv install 8.4 s. Full test log | Tested: AutoGen 0.7.5, Oct 25, 2026: passed. AutoGen 0.7.5 passed our one-tool task on a local 3B model: 3 of 3 trials; cold uv install 1.9 s. Full test log |
How we test and label results: methodology. All test logs: test hub.
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CrewAI vs AutoGen at a glance
CrewAI and AutoGen are both listed under Agent building. Agentic Weekly's AutoGen page names CrewAI as an alternative. CrewAI: Reasonable if you like the crew-of-agents mental model; the memory and tool-loop fixes in this release are worth taking. AutoGen: Microsoft's open-source multi-agent framework; its README now says the project is in maintenance mode and points to Microsoft Agent Framework.
| Feature | CrewAI | AutoGen |
|---|---|---|
| Vendor | CrewAI | Microsoft |
| Listed under | Agent building | Agent building |
| License | MIT | MIT (code) and CC-BY-4.0 (docs), per GitHub |
| Pricing model | Not captured on the pages we read | Free and open source |
| Free tier | Not captured on the pages we read | Free to self-host |
| Paid plans | Not captured on the pages we read | None listed for the library |
| Platforms | Not captured on the pages we read | Python and .NET |
| Public repository | crewAIInc/crewAI: 60,100 stars, last push Oct 26, 2026 UTC (GitHub API, Oct 25, 2026) | microsoft/autogen: 61,562 stars, last push Oct 16, 2026 UTC (GitHub API, Oct 25, 2026) |
| Latest release we saw | 1.15.30, Oct 23, 2026 | python-v0.7.5, Sep 30, 2025 |
| Evidence | Tested (scope on its tool page) | Tested (scope on its tool page) |
How CrewAI and AutoGen differ
- License: CrewAI is MIT; AutoGen is MIT (code) and CC-BY-4.0 (docs), per GitHub.
- GitHub stars on Oct 25, 2026: AutoGen 61,562 (microsoft/autogen) vs CrewAI 60,100 (crewAIInc/crewAI). Stars measure attention, not quality.
- Latest release we saw: CrewAI 1.15.30 on Oct 23, 2026; AutoGen python-v0.7.5 on Sep 30, 2025 (388 days earlier).
- AutoGen is "Free and open source"; the entry for CrewAI has no pricing model we could confirm (pricing not verified).
- AutoGen's pricing details were captured; CrewAI's were not published or could not be read, so a price comparison would be one-sided.
Which should you pick?
- Pick CrewAI if: developers who want role-based multi-agent flows; teams that want a built-in eval command. Skip it if: you prefer an explicit graph model.
- Pick AutoGen if: existing AutoGen projects that need reference material; researchers studying multi-agent patterns. Skip it if: you are starting a new production project: Microsoft points to Agent Framework instead.
Strengths and limits
| Feature | CrewAI | AutoGen |
|---|---|---|
| Strengths | MIT license and a large GitHub following; Built-in eval command; Fixes to memory and tool-loop behavior in this release | MIT-licensed code; Large community |
| Limits | Very fast release cadence (several versions per week); Some fixes address leaks and loops, which signals earlier rough edges; An unpinned install resolved to an older version (1.6.1) in our shared venv; we only ran a one-agent crew against a local model | Maintenance mode per its own README; Last release tag we saw is from Sep 2025; Our test was one small task on a local 3B model; it does not show behaviour with hosted models or larger jobs |
What we did not verify
- CrewAI: Pricing of CrewAI's hosted platform (not covered).
- AutoGen: Exact end-of-support dates.
- Output quality, speed and reliability beyond the smoke tests listed under What we measured: not compared.
FAQ
Is CrewAI or AutoGen open source?
CrewAI: MIT. AutoGen: MIT (code) and CC-BY-4.0 (docs), per GitHub. Licenses come from each project's GitHub repository or the vendor's own pages, read Oct 25, 2026; read the license text itself before redistributing or building a competing service.
Does CrewAI or AutoGen have a free plan?
CrewAI: we did not capture free-tier details. AutoGen: Free: to self-host. Checked Oct 25, 2026; prices and limits change, so confirm on each vendor's page.
Which was updated more recently, CrewAI or AutoGen?
CrewAI's newest release we saw is 1.15.30 (Oct 23, 2026); AutoGen's is python-v0.7.5 (Sep 30, 2025). Read Oct 25, 2026 from the official release page or repository; a newer date is not a quality ranking.
What is the main difference between CrewAI and AutoGen?
License: CrewAI is MIT; AutoGen is MIT (code) and CC-BY-4.0 (docs), per GitHub. GitHub stars on Oct 25, 2026: AutoGen 61,562 (microsoft/autogen) vs CrewAI 60,100 (crewAIInc/crewAI). Stars measure attention, not quality.
Sources
- CrewAI 1.15.29 release (fetched 2026-10-25)
- CrewAI 1.15.30 release (fetched 2026-10-25)
- README (fetched 2026-10-25)
- AutoGen README (fetched 2026-10-25)
Related
Page history
- : First published. Facts read from vendor pages and the GitHub API on 2026-10-25.
Markdown version for agents: /compare/crewai-vs-autogen.md
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