CrewAI vs Windmill (2026): Pricing, Features & Verdict
CrewAI and Windmill both score 7.1/10 on our AI Software criteria. For 10 users, CrewAI and Windmill are both free; both CrewAI and Windmill have a free plan.
Last updated: November 2026
CrewAI
7.1/10
CrewAI is an open-source Python framework and enterprise platform (AMP) for building, deploying, and governing multi-agent AI workflows. It is used by developers and enterprise platform teams.
Windmill
7.1/10
Windmill is an open-source, code-first platform that turns scripts into workflows, AI agent flows and internal apps, mainly for developer and data teams.
Feature-by-Feature Comparison
| Feature | | |
|---|---|---|
| Scores | ||
| Overall Rating | 7.1/10 | 7.1/10 |
| Integration | 8/10 | 7/10 |
| Analytics | 7/10 | 6/10 |
| Customization | 9/10 | 9/10 |
| Ease of Use | 6/10 | 5/10 |
| Support | 6/10 | 6/10 |
| Cost | 7/10 | 8/10 |
| Scalability | 6/10 | 8/10 |
| Security | 7/10 | 7/10 |
| Output Quality | 7/10 | 7/10 |
| Pricing | ||
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Cheapest paid plan | Contact for pricing | $120/mo + $20/user Enterprise |
| Estimated cost for 10 users | Free Basic | Free Free & Open-source |
| Features | ||
| AI Agents | ||
| API Access | ||
| Code Generation | ||
| Enterprise Controls | ||
| Private Deployment | ||
| Workflow Automation | ||
| Chatbots | Not listed | |
| Knowledge Base Search | Not listed | |
| Text Generation | Not listed | |
CrewAI vs Windmill cost by team size
CrewAI and Windmill cost the same at every team size we checked.
| Team size | CrewAI | Windmill |
|---|---|---|
| 1 user | FreeBasic | FreeFree & Open-source |
| 5 users | FreeBasic | FreeFree & Open-source |
| 10 users | FreeBasic | FreeFree & Open-source |
| 25 users | FreeBasic | FreeFree & Open-source |
| 50 users | FreeBasic | FreeFree & Open-source |
The plan that fits each team size, billed monthly, before add-ons and usage charges. Each cost opens that tool's pricing calculator for the team size.
Who CrewAI and Windmill suit
| Audience | CrewAI | Windmill |
|---|---|---|
| Enterprise | 8/10The Enterprise plan adds SSO, RBAC, PII redaction, VPC or self-hosted deployment, and onboarding, and the vendor cites Fortune 500 customers such as DocuSign and PepsiCo. | 7/10Enterprise adds SAML, SCIM, audit logs, autoscaling and 24/7 support, though the vendor is very small. |
| IT Teams | 7/10Central governance, RBAC, and deployment controls are aimed at platform and IT teams that manage agents across a company. | 8/10Teams can self-host it, and it has workers, schedules and enterprise SSO and audit logs for internal automation. |
| Developers | 9/10The core product is a Python framework with code-level control over agents, tools, and flows, and it has more than 60k GitHub stars. | 9/10The product is code-first, with multi-language scripts, a CLI, Git sync and in-browser code editing. |
| Startups | 7/10The free, open-source framework and the free Basic cloud tier make prototyping cheap, but no mid-priced paid tier is published. | 7/10The open-source edition is free with unlimited executions, and a Pro plan targets seed-stage companies. |
| Marketing Teams | Not rated | 3/10Reviewers say users without coding skills struggle with the script-based model. |
| Small Business | 4/10Most of the value requires Python skills, and the jump from 50 free executions to custom Enterprise pricing is awkward for small firms. | Not rated |
Which One Should You Choose?
Why choose CrewAI
- Higher Integration score (8/10 vs 7/10)
- Higher Analytics score (7/10 vs 6/10)
Why choose Windmill
- Higher Scalability score (8/10 vs 6/10)
- Higher Cost score (8/10 vs 7/10)
Pros & Cons
CrewAI
Pros
- The core framework is MIT-licensed and free to self-host, so teams can prototype multi-agent systems without licensing costs.
- The role-based Crews model and the event-driven Flows model give developers a clear structure, with sequential and hierarchical task processes.
- It works with most LLMs through LiteLLM or native providers, and it supports MCP servers, A2A, and more than 40 built-in tools.
- AMP includes OAuth-based connectors for Salesforce, HubSpot, Slack, and Gmail, plus REST API and webhook triggers.
- Enterprise buyers can deploy in their own VPC or on their own infrastructure, with SSO, RBAC, and PII redaction.
Cons
- No public price exists between the free 50-execution Basic tier and a custom Enterprise quote.
- Reviewers report heavy token use, because every agent step is an LLM call and multi-agent crews add to the cost.
- Python knowledge is effectively required, and reviewers describe the learning curve as steep for newcomers.
- Independent reviews say long-running pause and resume, horizontal scaling, and error recovery need custom work.
- Smaller open-source models, around 7B parameters, reportedly struggle with CrewAI's function calling.
- Compliance claims (SOC 2 type, HIPAA) vary between third-party sources and should be confirmed directly with the vendor.
Windmill
Pros
- The open-source edition has unlimited executions and can be self-hosted at no licence cost.
- Scripts in TypeScript, Python, Go, Bash and SQL become flows and internal apps in one tool.
- AI agent steps work with many model providers and MCP servers, and can require human approval before a tool call.
- Usage-based Enterprise pricing is transparent, with listed rates per seat and per compute unit.
- The engine is Rust-based, and reviewers point to strong performance.
Cons
- It is aimed at developers, and a reviewer said a junior developer needed two weeks to become productive.
- It has a smaller community and fewer prebuilt integrations than n8n.
- The AGPL licence needs review before embedding it in commercial products.
- The free edition has no audit logs or SAML and caps job retention at 30 days.
- The vendor is a very small company of around 7 people.
Not sold on either?
Frequently Asked Questions
CrewAI and Windmill both score 7.1/10 on our AI Software criteria. The largest gap is in Scalability: 6/10 for CrewAI and 8/10 for Windmill.
Both are free for 10 users.
Yes, both CrewAI and Windmill have a free plan.
