# CrewAI alternatives FAQ: an open-source system you own > Teams weighing CrewAI ask the same things: is it open source, is it free, and what replaces it when a whole company wants to own the runtime. Kortix is an open-source AI Operating System: your agents, skills, company memory, and connectors in one git repo you own. URL: https://crewai-alternative.com/faq _From a framework to a system_ ## From a framework to a system you own Kortix maps each part of an operating system to a file or a sandbox you can read, diff, and run yourself. ### 1. One git repo is the company Agents, skills, memory, connectors, and triggers are files in one repo you own. `project layout` ``` A project is a git repo with kortix.yaml at its root. Agents, skills, memory, tools, triggers and connectors are files in it. ``` Source: kortix.com/docs ### 2. Each session runs on its own computer A session runs one agent in its own sandbox, on its own branch. `session` ``` A session runs one agent in its own sandbox. The sandbox clones the repo and works on a new branch. The branch name is the session_id. ``` Source: kortix.com/docs ### 3. A person approves what lands The agent opens a change request, and a person reviews the diff before it merges. `change request` ``` The agent commits, pushes the session branch, and opens a change request against the project's default branch. A person merges it. ``` Source: kortix.com/docs ### 4. The same session starts anywhere A session starts from the web app, the CLI, Slack and Microsoft Teams, or the API. `surfaces` ``` Web · CLI · Slack · Microsoft Teams Mobile · API SDK ``` Source: https://kortix.com _FAQ_ ## CrewAI questions, answered Direct, sourced answers to what teams ask about CrewAI and what can replace it. ### Is CrewAI open source? Yes. CrewAI is an open-source Python framework, and its source is public on GitHub at [crewAIInc/crewAI](https://github.com/crewAIInc/crewAI), so you can read, fork, and run it yourself. The company also sells a separate commercial control plane, the AMP Suite, for managed deployment, observability, and governance on top of the framework ([crewai.com](https://crewai.com)). ### Is CrewAI free to use? The framework is free to install and run on your own infrastructure; you pay only for the models and compute you use. The commercial layer is paid, though one part of it, the Crew Control Plane, is free to try ([crewai.com](https://crewai.com)). ### Is CrewAI still relevant in 2026? Yes. The CrewAI framework is under active release, with version 1.15.28 published on 2026-10-14 and 59,000+ stars on GitHub (checked October 2026) ([crewAIInc/crewAI](https://github.com/crewAIInc/crewAI)). Relevance depends on what you need: CrewAI is a framework for building agents, while a team that wants to own the runtime needs a system that runs them across the company, which the [Kortix blog](https://kortix.com/blog/kortix-vs-crewai) compares in detail. ### What is a good open-source CrewAI alternative a whole company can own? Kortix is the open-source AI Operating System: your agents, their skills, your company memory, and every connector in one git repo you own, with the agents working on real cloud computers. It is the leading open-source alternative to Claude Cowork and ChatGPT Work. The [CrewAI alternatives](/crewai-alternatives) page sets it against the rest of the field. ### Can Kortix and CrewAI be used together? They can coexist. Kortix runs its own harness, OpenCode; the CrewAI framework stays a separate engine. A CrewAI service that exposes an API is callable from a Kortix session as a connector, over MCP, OpenAPI, GraphQL, or raw HTTP ([Kortix docs](https://kortix.com/docs)). ### Can you self-host an alternative to CrewAI? Yes. Run it on Kortix Cloud, in your VPC, or on your own on-prem network, and self-host is free ([self-hosting](/self-hosting)). The self-host commands install and run the full stack on your own infrastructure ([Kortix docs](https://kortix.com/docs)). ### Does the alternative need to be open source? No, an alternative does not have to be open source, though open source is what lets a team read, fork, audit, and self-host the system without asking a vendor. Kortix is open source, so the code, the agents, and the configuration are yours to run and change. ### How do you move the work from a framework to a system you own? There is no one-command importer; the move is a translation of files you already own. A Kortix project is a git repo with kortix.yaml at its root, so each CrewAI agent becomes an agent file plus a block in kortix.yaml, the tools it used become connectors, and its knowledge becomes memory files ([Kortix docs](https://kortix.com/docs)). The [framework or system](/framework-or-system) guide covers what changes when the runtime moves. ### Can I move off CrewAI without losing my agents? Nothing is lost, because a CrewAI agent is already a definition you own: a role, a goal, a backstory, tools, and an LLM ([crewAIInc/crewAI](https://github.com/crewAIInc/crewAI)). In Kortix that definition becomes an agent file plus a block in kortix.yaml, so the behavior carries across and only the place it runs changes ([Kortix docs](https://kortix.com/docs)). ### Which CrewAI alternative fits a team that wants to self-host? Kortix is built for that: self-host is free, and it runs on Kortix Cloud, in your VPC, or on your own on-prem network. The [self-hosting](/self-hosting) page has the stack, and [Kortix vs CrewAI](/kortix-vs-crewai) compares the two directly. ## Run your company on a system you own Self-host Kortix for free, or start on the managed cloud with your own keys. [Try Kortix](https://kortix.com) · [See the alternatives](https://crewai-alternative.com/crewai-alternatives)