CrewAI vs Mastra (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Mastra grades higher than CrewAI: 2.8 against 2.2 out of 4.0.
Checked Nov 12, 2026 · graded Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
CrewAI grades higher on ease of use. Mastra grades higher on value for money, the free plan and features. They get the same grade on platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Mastra
TypeScript framework for building and running 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 Mastra if
- Fits if you write TypeScript and want to build your own agents
- Works for teams that want to deploy agents on Vercel or Cloudflare
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if you want no-code, since building an agent means writing TypeScript
- Pricey if you grow, as past the allowance egress is $0.10 a GB and events $10 per 100K
- Watch out: RBAC, SSO and audit logs are Enterprise only, and the SOC 2 report starts at Team at $250
- Watch out: some repository folders (ee/) sit under a separate enterprise licence
How we grade them
| 2.2GPACrewAIFair | 2.8GPAMastraGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CThe page lists only Free and a custom Enterprise, with no self-serve paid price to compare. | AThe framework is open source and the cloud has a free plan. Starter is $25 a workspace a month and Team $250. |
| Free plan and trial | CFree has 2 automations and a hard cap of 50 executions a month, with no overage option. | BFree cloud plan: unlimited agents, users and deployments, 100K observability events and 15-day trace retention. A solo developer can live on that. |
| Features | CVisual editor, role-based agents, tracing and governance, but SSO, RBAC and connectors are Enterprise only. | BAgents, workflows, memory, evals, MCP servers and deployment to many hosts. Nothing in the listing is missing for code-first agent work. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record. You design agents, roles and workflows yourself. | DNo store rating, and building an agent means writing TypeScript and running it yourself. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb only, with seven integrations and flexible deployment on Enterprise, including a VPC or your own servers. | BWeb with deployment to Vercel, Netlify and Cloudflare, and Next.js, React, Hono and Express listed. |
| Best for | building multi-agent workflows | TypeScript developers building their own 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 Mastra. How we grade
Where they differ
- Mastra is self-hostable, according to its own site.
- CrewAI also covers no-code.
At a glance
| CrewAI | Mastra | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | Not published | $25 per workspace / month |
| Free plan | Basic plan: visual editor and AI copilot, GitHub integration, 2 automations and 50 workflow executions a month. | Unlimited agents, users and deployments, 100K observability events, 1 GB egress, 5 connections and 15-day trace retention. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | CrewAI | Mastra |
| Price read from | crewai.com | mastra.ai |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Nov 12, 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.
Mastra
- It is a code framework, so building an agent means writing TypeScript; there is no no-code builder.
- Cloud usage past each plan's allowance is billed separately, for example $0.10 per GB of egress and $10 per 100K observability events.
- RBAC, SSO and audit logs are Enterprise only, and the SOC 2 report starts at the Team plan.
- Some directories in the repository are under a separate enterprise license (ee/), so not every file carries the main open-source terms.
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.
Mastra
- Agents
- Typed agents are defined in code with instructions, a model, tools and runtime behavior in one place.
- Workflows
- Typed steps can be chained with retries and branches into workflows that a team can inspect.
- Memory
- Agents can keep durable context through thread-aware storage, semantic recall and an observational memory option.
- Observability and evals
- Traces, metrics and logs sit alongside evaluation tools such as scorers, datasets and experiments.
- MCP servers
- Agents, tools and other resources can be exposed as Model Context Protocol servers that any MCP-capable system can call.
- Deploy anywhere
- A Mastra app runs on any Node.js host or as a standalone server, with optional deployers for Vercel, Netlify and Cloudflare, or on Mastra Cloud.
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.
Mastra
Free$0
Unlimited agents, users and deployments, 100K observability events, 1 GB egress, 5 connections and 15-day trace retention.
Starter$25
per workspace / month
One small dedicated project, usage alerts, 250K observability events, 10 GB egress, 10 connections and 60-day trace retention.
Team$250
per workspace / month
One small and two medium dedicated projects, a SOC 2 report, 10M observability events, 100 GB egress, 50 connections and 180-day trace retention.
EnterpriseCustom
RBAC, SSO, audit logs, custom allowances and connections, and dedicated support.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, CrewAI or Mastra?
As of Nov 12, 2026, CrewAI publishes no starting price, and Mastra starts at $25 per workspace / month.
Which has a free plan, CrewAI or Mastra?
As of Nov 12, 2026, both CrewAI and Mastra 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.