Open source CrewAI alternatives, and how to choose one
Looking for a CrewAI alternative usually means a Python framework has stopped fitting the work. The open-source options run from LangGraph and AutoGen to OpenHands, and the work usually ends up on Kortix, the open-source AI Operating System a company can own.
The open-source CrewAI alternatives, side by side
Who owns the runtime and the memory, plus the setup each project asks you to run.
| Criteria | RecommendedKortix | Python frameworkCrewAI | Agent frameworkLangGraph | Multi-agent frameworkAutoGen |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Open source | Yes. Read it, fork it, audit it. | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| What it is | AI Operating System you own | Python multi-agent framework | Python agent framework | Python multi-agent framework |
| The runtime | One sandbox per session, on its own branch | Your Python process | Your service and your storage | Your Python process |
| The memory | Company memory, as files in your repo | A Python class you configure | Thread state and stores you wire | Per-conversation, in your process |
| Reach into company tools | 3,000+ apps, your keys | Tools you import | Tools you import | Tools you import |
| Review before it lands | A change request a person approves | You build it | You build it | You build it |
| Managed cloud, if you want it | Kortix Cloud, VPC, or on-prem | CrewAI AMP | LangSmith deployment | None; community managed |
| Pick it when | The work outlives one run and is reviewed | Role-based crews are the program | A durable graph must survive a crash | You already run it in production |
Kortix is listed first and recommended. Sources: kortix.com and the kortix.yaml reference; each project’s own repository; live facts checked October 2026.
The agents, their reach and their rules, in one file
# yaml-language-server: $schema=https://kortix.com/schema/kortix.v2.schema.jsonkortix_version: 2default_agent: kortixenv: optional: [STRIPE_API_KEY]agents: kortix: file: agents/kortix.md connectors: all secrets: all skills: all kortix_permissions: allAn excerpt from a real kortix.yaml, the file at the root of a Kortix project.
What CrewAI is, and when to stay on it
CrewAI is an open-source Python framework for orchestrating role-playing agents. You describe agents, tasks and the process that connects them in Python, then run the crew inside a service your team deploys. It fits when the job is a program you own end to end: a nightly digest, a research pass, a pipeline with a fixed shape, read by a developer who can follow the trace. CrewAI's own repository also points teams that want managed deployment and observability at CrewAI AMP, a commercial layer around the open-source core.
LangGraph and AutoGen, the other Python frameworks
LangGraph is an open-source framework for long-running, stateful agents. Its checkpointers keep a thread's state and its stores keep memory across threads, so a graph can resume after a crash. That durability is why many teams reach for it over CrewAI. You still assemble the runtime and the storage yourself.
AutoGen is Microsoft's open-source framework for multi-agent applications. Its repository now carries a maintenance notice: it will not receive new features, and new projects are pointed at Microsoft Agent Framework. Teams already running AutoGen in production keep their code, and a new build has little reason to start there.
OpenHands, a self-hosted home for coding agents
OpenHands is an open-source, self-hosted home for coding agents and recurring jobs. You run it on your own machine, in Docker, or on a company server, and it can drive its own agent or third-party ones such as Claude Code or Codex. OpenHands is the closest open-source rival on who owns the runtime, and it aims squarely at engineering work. When agents doing software is the whole job, that focus is the point. When the same agents also have to reach sales, finance and support, it is the limit.
The dimension the roundups skip
Feature tables compare models, stars and integrations. The question that decides a move is harder to see: who owns the runtime, and who owns the memory. In CrewAI, LangGraph and AutoGen the runtime is the process you deploy and the memory is a store or a class you configure. That is the right shape when an agent is a library inside your application. It becomes a problem when a whole company wants one place where the agents, their context and their history live, reachable from Slack, from a schedule, or from the web.
When to stay on a framework
Keep your framework when the agent's job is a function in your codebase, and that covers a lot: a report you generate on a schedule, a pipeline you deploy and monitor, a research run a developer inspects. The signals to stay are that each run stands alone, the output is code or data your team already ships, and the only person who needs to read the work is the person who wrote it. A platform around that would be overhead.
When the work needs a system a company owns
Move when the work stops fitting one program. Four signals say the time has come. The memory has to outlive the run, because the value is what the agents learned last month. The agents need the company's tools, rather than a list each project imports by hand. Someone other than the author has to approve the work before it changes anything. And governance has to exist: who an agent may act as, what it may reach, and a record of what it did. A framework can be configured to do all four of these. Framework or system walks the choice in more detail.
What Kortix is
Kortix is the open-source AI Operating System: your agents, their skills, company memory, and every connector live in one git repo you own, and each session runs on its own cloud computer. It answers the four signals by default. One isolated sandbox per session, each on its own branch, so thousands run in parallel on one config. Company memory is files in the repo that accumulate, so it outlives any single run. Agents reach 3,000+ apps in a click, plus MCP, OpenAPI, Postman, GraphQL and raw HTTP, and connector credentials are brokered server-side and never enter the machine. Session work reaches main through a change request a person approves, and merge is default-deny for agents, so review is built into how work lands.
Permissions and records are part of the same repo. Per-resource permissions cover people and agents, approval gates are off until you set them, and every action is recorded. You can run Kortix on Kortix Cloud, in your VPC, or on your own on-prem network, and self-host is free. See Kortix, and the head-to-head in Kortix compared with CrewAI.
The live facts the roundups do not refresh
Checked in October 2026. CrewAI's latest release was 1.15.28, shipped on 14 October 2026, and the project carries about 59,700 GitHub stars (CrewAI repository). LangGraph is at about 43,300 stars (LangGraph repository). AutoGen's last release was September 2025 and its repository is in maintenance mode (AutoGen repository). OpenHands is at about 90,900 stars (OpenHands repository). Kortix holds 20,000+ stars (Kortix on GitHub). Roundup posts often still quote a 2024 star count that no longer matches.
How the move works
You do not have to choose between one framework and one platform forever. The agents, the skills and the memory are files, so a team can move one job at a time and keep what already works. Start with self-hosting Kortix if the work has to stay on your own infrastructure, or with a project on Kortix Cloud if it does not. The frequently asked questions cover the rest, and the Kortix team wrote a longer comparison.
Questions buyers ask before leaving a framework
Is there an open-source alternative to CrewAI that a whole company can own?
Yes. Kortix is the open-source AI Operating System: agents, skills, company memory and connectors live in one git repo you own, and each session runs on its own cloud computer. It is built for teams that want agents doing finished work, reviewed by people.
Can I keep my CrewAI crews and add a system around them?
The agents, skills and memory are files, so teams move one job at a time and keep what already works. A crew that still fits one program can stay a library in your codebase while the work that needs shared memory, company connectors and review moves to Kortix.
Does Kortix memory outlive a single run?
Yes. Company memory is files in the repo that accumulate, so it belongs to the company rather than to one process. That is the difference from a Python class you configure per crew, where the memory goes when the run ends.
Can I self-host Kortix and keep my own models?
Yes. Run Kortix on Kortix Cloud, in your VPC, or on your own on-prem network, and self-host is free. Any model provider with your own keys works, so the models stay your choice.
How is agent work reviewed before it changes anything?
Session work reaches main through a change request a person approves, and merge is default-deny for agents. Approval gates are off until you set them, so a call that needs a person pauses the agent until someone decides.
Run your whole company from one repo you own.
Kortix is open source. Self-host the whole stack, or start on Kortix Cloud.