CompareSwarm vs CrewAI
Swarm vs CrewAI
They solve different problems. CrewAI is a Python framework: you write the agents, their roles and their flows in your own code. Swarm is a platform you install: the agents already exist (coder, finder, designer, reviewer, media), and your AI or your app hands them work. Pick CrewAI to build custom multi-agent logic into a Python product; pick Swarm to have agents do work on your machines today.
Side by side
| Swarm | CrewAI | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Self-hosted, headless AI agent platform | A Python framework for role-playing, autonomous agents; enterprise platform (AMP) |
| License | Open source, Apache 2.0 | MIT framework; AMP is commercial |
| Where it runs | A headless service on your own Ubuntu 24.04 x86-64 machines (no macOS yet) | Inside your Python code; AMP in CrewAI's cloud or your own infrastructure |
| Interfaces | MCP tools for your AI, TypeScript SDK, HTTP API, CLI (swarmctl). No GUI beyond a setup page | Python SDK, CLI, AMP REST API, no-code studio; uses MCP servers as tools |
| Agents | Its own coder, finder, designer and reviewer, plus image, video and sound agents | Agents you define (Crews and Flows) on any LLM |
| Your ChatGPT or Claude plan | ChatGPT plan, Claude plan through Claude Code, or API keys (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, OpenRouter, Fireworks) | Provider API keys |
| Several machines | Yes: one fleet MCP server over your Tailscale network | Scaling through AMP |
| Isolation | Each job on its own branch; optional container per project; folder environments in their own container | Opt-in code sandboxes as tools |
| Secrets | Typed in once; agents see stand-ins, the real value goes only to allowed hosts and is scrubbed from responses | Environment variables and API keys |
| Automation | Schedules (cron or interval), trigger tokens for your app or CI, workflows with reviewer, send-back and script steps | AMP cron and triggers from Gmail, Slack, Salesforce and more |
| Media generation | Images, video and sound | Images through a DALL-E tool |
| Price | Free. Models on your own plan or key | Framework free; AMP Basic 50 executions a month, Enterprise custom |
Pick CrewAI when
- You are building a Python product and want to define agents, memory and flows in code.
- You need business-app triggers and enterprise governance.
Pick Swarm when
- You want agents that already code, research, design and make media, without writing an agent framework.
- Your AI (Claude Code, Codex, ChatGPT) should hand them work over MCP.
- The work runs on your own machines, on your ChatGPT or Claude plan.
- You build in TypeScript: Swarm's SDK starts jobs, triggers workers and runs sealed agents in your app.
Checked 24 October 2026 on github.com/crewAIInc/crewAI, docs.crewai.com, CrewAI pricing. Products change quickly; tell us at contact if something here is out of date.
Questions
Is Swarm a framework like CrewAI?
No. Swarm is a running platform with built-in agents; CrewAI is a library you build agents with.
Can I build my own agents on Swarm?
Yes: your own workers with standing instructions, and sealed agents for your app that can only use the tools you define, through the TypeScript SDK.
Which models do they use?
CrewAI uses any LLM through API keys. Swarm uses your ChatGPT plan, your Claude plan through Claude Code, or API keys from OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, OpenRouter or Fireworks.
Updated 24 October 2026