CrewAI vs Orkes Conductor (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, CrewAI and Orkes Conductor 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 which features you need.
Checked Nov 12, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Nov 12, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
They get the same grade on all five counts.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Orkes Conductor
Workflow orchestration for AI agents and services, built on Conductor
Free plan
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 Orkes Conductor if
- Fits if you are a developer who wants to try a workflow engine in a free sandbox
- Works for engineering teams ready to buy Enterprise for agent and service orchestration
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if you want a price, as Enterprise is quoted through a demo
- Skip it if you need production use on the free plan, since it is not recommended for that
- Tight if you are a team: multiple users and detailed access control need Enterprise
- Watch out: free support is community-only
- Too light for no-code users, as the work is workflows and SDK code
How we grade them
| 2.2GPACrewAIFair | 2.2GPAOrkes ConductorFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CThe page lists only Free and a custom Enterprise, with no self-serve paid price to compare. | CNo price is published, only a free sandbox and a quoted Enterprise plan. Nothing to compare against the category's $24 middle. |
| Free plan and trial | CFree has 2 automations and a hard cap of 50 executions a month, with no overage option. | CA free managed Developer Edition with most Enterprise features, but only for individual developers, not for teams or production, with community-only support. |
| Features | CVisual editor, role-based agents, tracing and governance, but SSO, RBAC and connectors are Enterprise only. | CWorkflows, agents, a visual editor, SDKs, prompt studio and security controls. Multiple user accounts and detailed access control need Enterprise. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record. You design agents, roles and workflows yourself. | CNo store rating on record. You model workflows in an editor or code with SDKs, which takes a learning curve. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb only, with seven integrations and flexible deployment on Enterprise, including a VPC or your own servers. | BWeb console, SDKs and an API, with Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Gemini and GitHub listed. No desktop or phone app. |
| Best for | building multi-agent workflows | workflow engine for agents and services |
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 Orkes Conductor. How we grade
Where they differ
In commonFree planWebOpen sourceWorkflow automationAI agentsNo-code
At a glance
| CrewAI | Orkes Conductor | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | Not published | Not published |
| Free plan | Basic plan: visual editor and AI copilot, GitHub integration, 2 automations and 50 workflow executions a month. | Developer Edition: free managed sandbox with the open-source features and most Enterprise features, for individual developers and not for production use. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | CrewAI | Orkes |
| Price read from | crewai.com | orkes.io |
| 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.
Orkes Conductor
- No prices are published: the Developer Edition is free and Enterprise is quoted through a demo.
- The free Developer Edition is for individual developers and is not recommended for production or for teams.
- Multiple user accounts and detailed access control need the Enterprise plan.
- Support on the free edition is community-only.
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.
Orkes Conductor
- Agents and workflows together
- Orchestrates agent decisions, service calls and human approvals in one execution that keeps its state at every step.
- Visual editor and SDKs
- Workflows can be built visually or defined in code, with open-source SDKs for Java, TypeScript, Python, Go, C# and more.
- LLM tasks and prompt studio
- The platform capability list includes LLM tasks and an AI Prompt Studio alongside human tasks, event handlers, webhooks and a scheduler.
- Hosting choices
- Fully hosted by Orkes, or hosted in the customer's cloud account or on-premises, with dedicated clusters and VPC options on Enterprise.
- Security controls
- Lists SOC 2 Type II, role-based access, single sign-on, audit logs, secrets and end-to-end data encryption.
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.
Orkes Conductor
Developer Edition$0
Free managed sandbox for prototyping, with community support. Meant for one developer, not production.
EnterpriseCustom
Hosted by Orkes or in your own cloud account, SSO, audit logs, support with SLA-backed response times, up to a 99.99% availability SLA.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, CrewAI or Orkes Conductor?
As of Nov 13, 2026, CrewAI publishes no starting price, and Orkes Conductor publishes no starting price.
Which has a free plan, CrewAI or Orkes Conductor?
As of Nov 13, 2026, both CrewAI and Orkes Conductor 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.