An open-source toolkit for building teams of AI agents that work together. It is built for developers, with a hosted option for teams that would rather not install anything.
Pricing
Open source: From CrewAI's docs (Oct 28, 2026): the framework is open source, and signing up for the hosted CrewAI AMP is free. Paid plan prices weren't listed on the pages we read, so they're unknown for now. AI model usage is billed by your model provider.
Getting set up
According to CrewAI's docs: install Python 3.10 to 3.13 and the uv tool, run 'uv tool install crewai', then 'crewai create crew <name>' and 'crewai run'. Keep API keys in the project's .env file. Or sign up for CrewAI AMP for a hosted, no-install option.
The plain-English overview
Got a developer on hand and want a team of AI agents that split up the work? CrewAI is an open-source framework (a toolkit for developers) for building exactly that. Here's the short version from CrewAI's official docs, as of Oct 28, 2026.
There are two big ideas, and the names are pretty friendly:
- Crews: teams of AI agents, each with a role, a goal, and tools. They work together and hand tasks to whoever's best suited.
- Flows: the manager. A Flow sets the steps, keeps track of information between steps, and decides what happens next. When a step needs real thinking, it hands that step to a Crew.
Here's how it all fits together, in order: First, a Flow starts the process, maybe when something happens. Next, the Flow decides what to do and hands a tough task to a Crew. Then, the Crew's agents work together and send the result back. And last, the Flow keeps going based on that result.
CrewAI's docs suggest starting any real project with a Flow, and using a Crew inside it when you need a team of agents to handle something complex, like research.
Who's it for? Mainly developers. You install it with Python (version 3.10 up to 3.13), and you'll need an API key for an AI model, which the docs say to keep in a .env file. CrewAI also offers its coding-agent skills for tools like Claude Code and Codex, to help set up projects.
Not a coder? CrewAI lists two business options. CrewAI AMP is the hosted version: you sign up for free at app.crewai.com, and the docs say you can build Crews with no code. CrewAI Factory is a self-hosted option for your own servers.
Pricing: the docs say AMP sign-up is free, but paid plan prices weren't listed on the pages we read, so those are unknown for now. The model provider you connect bills you separately.
A quick note: the customer stats and testimonials on CrewAI's homepage are its own marketing, so we've left them out.
Sources
- CrewAI documentation — Introduction (checked Oct 28, 2026)
- CrewAI documentation — Installation (checked Oct 28, 2026)
Where each fact came from
- What it can do · checked Oct 28, 2026 · rechecked regularly — CrewAI documentation — Introduction
- Overview · checked Oct 28, 2026 · rechecked regularly — CrewAI documentation — Introduction
- Where it runs · checked Oct 28, 2026 · rechecked regularly — CrewAI documentation — Installation
- Getting set up · checked Oct 28, 2026 · rechecked regularly — CrewAI documentation — Installation
- Pricing · checked Oct 28, 2026 · rechecked often — CrewAI documentation — Installation
- Pricing model · checked Oct 28, 2026 · rechecked often — CrewAI documentation — Introduction
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