CrewAI vs LlamaIndex (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, CrewAI and LlamaIndex share a 2.2 GPA, both have a free plan and their prices can't be set side by side, so the choice depends on whether you care more about ease of use, where CrewAI grades higher, or features, where LlamaIndex does.
Checked Nov 12, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Nov 12, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
They get the same grade on value for money, the free plan and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
LlamaIndex
Document parsing and extraction platform for AI agents
Which one is for you
Pick CrewAI if
- Fits if you want to try multi-agent workflows in a visual editor
- Works for a company that wants a VPC or self-run deployment
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you build for real: 2 automations and 50 executions a month
- Not for you if you want a self-serve paid plan, as none is published
- Watch out: SSO, role-based access and enterprise connectors are Enterprise only
- Skip it if you want instant sign-up for Enterprise, which starts with a trial request and a 45-day onboarding
Pick LlamaIndex if
- Fits if you feed PDFs and other documents into language-model pipelines
- Works for developers who also use the open-source LlamaIndex libraries
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you do not write code, as it is an API product
- Pricey if you outgrow pay-as-you-go: Pro is $500 a month
- Tight if you stay free: about 1,000 pages once, and 1 project
- Watch out: layout-aware parsing modes cost more than 1 credit a page
- Watch out: SSO and VPC deployment are Enterprise only
How we grade them
| 2.2GPACrewAIFair | 2.2GPALlamaIndexFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CThe page lists only Free and a custom Enterprise, with no self-serve paid price to compare. | CPay-as-you-go is $0 a month with credits at $1.50 per 1,000. Pro is $500 a month, well above the category's $150 dearest-tenth start. |
| Free plan and trial | CFree has 2 automations and a hard cap of 50 executions a month, with no overage option. | C10K free credits, about 1,000 pages, with 5 concurrent parse jobs and 1 project. A document pile will use that fast. |
| Features | CVisual editor, role-based agents, tracing and governance, but SSO, RBAC and connectors are Enterprise only. | BParse, extract, classify, split and index, plus an agent builder and the open-source libraries. The listing shows no gap in the document-handling job. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record. You design agents, roles and workflows yourself. | DNo rating on record. It is used through an API and libraries, so developers do the setup. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb only, with seven integrations and flexible deployment on Enterprise, including a VPC or your own servers. | BWeb service and API, listed on AWS and Azure marketplaces with GitHub links. No desktop or phone app. |
| Best for | building multi-agent workflows | parsing documents for AI agents |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: CrewAI and LlamaIndex. How we grade
Where they differ
- CrewAI also covers no-code.
At a glance
| CrewAI | LlamaIndex | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | Not published | $500 per month (Pro), after pay-as-you-go from $0 |
| Free plan | Basic plan: visual editor and AI copilot, GitHub integration, 2 automations and 50 workflow executions a month. | Pay-as-you-go plan: $0 a month with 10K free credits (about 1,000 pages), then $1.50 per 1,000 credits. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | CrewAI | LlamaIndex |
| Price read from | crewai.com | llamaindex.ai |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Nov 13, 2026 |
Worth knowing
CrewAI
- The pricing page lists only Free and Enterprise; there is no published self-serve paid tier.
- The free plan stops at 2 automations and 50 executions a month, with no overage option.
- SSO, role-based access, enterprise connectors and dedicated support are Enterprise only.
- Enterprise starts with a trial request and a 45-day onboarding, not instant sign-up.
LlamaIndex
- The pricing page covers LlamaParse only; the open-source LlamaIndex and Workflows libraries are separate and free.
- Cost scales with pages: parsing starts at 1 credit a page and layout-aware modes cost more.
- Pro is $500 a month; SSO, VPC deployment and custom BAAs need Enterprise.
- Pricing is shown separately for US and Europe regions; the figures here are the US page.
Key features
CrewAI
- Visual editor and AI copilot
- A no-code canvas builder, guided by an AI copilot, that can be exported to Python code.
- Role-based agents and workflows
- Agents are given roles, and deterministic workflows control how they hand work to each other.
- Tracing and evaluation
- Tracing of every LLM call, tool call and memory read with cost accounting, plus OpenTelemetry and LLM testing.
- Governance controls
- Human-in-the-loop approval gates, guardrails, and on Enterprise, SSO, role-based access and PII redaction hooks.
- Flexible deployment
- Run on CrewAI cloud; Enterprise adds a dedicated VPC or the customer's own infrastructure. Agents can be exported as an MCP server.
LlamaIndex
- Parse
- Turns PDFs, Office files, spreadsheets and images into text, markdown or JSON, with table, chart and layout handling and several accuracy tiers.
- Extract, classify and split
- Schema-based extraction agents pull structured fields from documents, with citations and confidence scores; documents can also be classified and split.
- Index
- A chunking and embedding pipeline prepares documents for retrieval in RAG applications.
- Document agent builder
- A builder turns natural-language descriptions into workflows, with starter templates and one-click deploys from GitHub repositories.
- Open-source libraries
- LlamaIndex, Workflows and LiteParse are open-source projects the company maintains for building AI apps and parsing documents locally.
Plans
CrewAI
Basic$0
Visual editor, AI copilot, tracing and GitHub integration; 2 automations and a hard cap of 50 executions a month.
EnterpriseCustom
SSO, RBAC, PII redaction, enterprise connectors, dedicated support, and deployment on CrewAI cloud, a VPC or your own servers.
LlamaIndex
Pay-as-you-go$0
per month, plus $1.50 per 1,000 credits
10K credits included, 5 concurrent parse jobs, 1 project and basic community support.
Pro$500
per month, with credits at $1.25 per 1,000
400K credits included, 20 concurrent jobs, 5 projects and priority Slack support; an 800K-credit bonus is offered for a limited time.
EnterpriseCustom
Volume credit discounts, 5x higher rate limits, SSO, VPC or hybrid deployment and a dedicated account manager.
Ways to pay less
CrewAI
No public discounts listed.
LlamaIndex
- Startups
Startup program with free credits
The pricing page invites startups to apply for free credits, dedicated support and community spotlights.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, CrewAI or LlamaIndex?
As of Nov 13, 2026, CrewAI publishes no starting price, and LlamaIndex starts at $500 per month (Pro), after pay-as-you-go from $0.
Which has a free plan, CrewAI or LlamaIndex?
As of Nov 13, 2026, both CrewAI and LlamaIndex have a free plan.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.