AutoGen alternatives in 2026: frameworks and agents to move to

AutoGen alternatives at a glance

Facts from each product's README, docs and pricing page, checked November 13, 2026. Prices in USD. AutoGen itself is free and open source (code under MIT), and you pay your model provider.

What replaced AutoGen: Microsoft Agent Framework

Microsoft's own answer is Agent Framework. Microsoft Learn says: “The Agent Framework is the direct successor, created by the same teams,” and it has a migration guide from AutoGen. The rest of this page covers other projects.

• AutoGen's README recommends Agent Framework for new projects and says AutoGen is “now community-managed.”
• On production use, the README says: “AutoGen was developed for research and experimentation and as it transitions to archived, we continue to advise against production use.”
• AutoGen Studio, its no-code UI, “is not meant to be a production-ready app,” per the same README.

Multi-agent frameworks you write code with

Closest to AutoGen: open-source libraries you call from your own code, with agents that work together. Side by side: CrewAI vs AutoGen and CrewAI vs LangGraph.

• CrewAI: an MIT-licensed Python framework. Each agent is defined with a role, goal and backstory; with delegation turned on, agents hand work to each other and ask each other questions, and Flows add event-driven, step-by-step control. CrewAI AMP, the commercial platform, adds a no-code Studio, tracing, cron scheduling and deployment. Choose it if you write Python (3.10 or later, below 3.14) and want role-based agents inside your own application. Prices: CrewAI pricing.
• LangGraph: LangChain's MIT-licensed framework for long-running, stateful agents, defined as a graph of state, nodes and edges in Python or JS/TS. It pauses for human input with interrupts and resumes after failures; LangSmith adds tracing, evaluation and deployment to Agent Server. Choose it if you want low-level control over each step. Prices: LangGraph pricing.

Ready-made agents that run on their own

AutoGen is a library for building agents. These two are agents you install and run, with schedulers built in. Compared in Hermes Agent vs OpenClaw.

• OpenClaw: an MIT-licensed personal assistant that runs as a Gateway on your own computer and answers in WhatsApp, Telegram, Slack, Discord and other chat apps. Several agents can run on one Gateway, and a team preset creates a coordinator with researcher, writer and reviewer agents. Choose it if you want one assistant on hardware you control, with model providers you can swap. More in OpenClaw alternatives.
• Hermes Agent: Nous Research's MIT-licensed personal agent. It writes skills from experience, keeps its own memory and has a built-in cron scheduler; in Bot Mode, named Bots with their own models and routines message each other directly. Choose it if you want several specialist agents you can reach from a terminal, a desktop app and chat apps. More in Hermes Agent alternatives.

Running coding agents as a team

These coordinate coding agents that already exist, instead of agents you build. See Paperclip vs CrewAI and Claude Code agent teams vs OpenClaw.

• Paperclip: a self-hosted, MIT-licensed Node.js server and web UI that runs a team of agents as a company: an org chart with roles and budgets, issues assigned to agents or people, and routines on cron, webhook or API triggers. It drives agents you bring, such as Claude Code, Codex, OpenClaw and Hermes, through adapters. Choose it if you want many different agents working toward one goal, with spending caps, on your own server.
• Claude Code agent teams: an experimental Claude Code feature, off by default. A lead session spawns teammates, separate Claude Code instances that share a task list and message each other directly, and you can message any teammate. Token use is higher because each teammate is a separate Claude instance. Choose it if you already pay for a Claude plan and want a group of agents that talk to each other on one coding task.

How to choose an AutoGen alternative

1. Maintaining an AutoGen app?

   Look at Microsoft Agent Framework and its migration guide from AutoGen on Microsoft Learn. That's the path AutoGen's README recommends.

2. Want to keep writing agent code?

   CrewAI and LangGraph are MIT-licensed libraries, like AutoGen. CrewAI is a Python library; LangGraph comes in Python and JS/TS.

3. Need a hosted place to run and trace agents?

   AutoGen has no hosted service. LangSmith Plus ($39 per seat a month) includes one Small Agent Server; CrewAI AMP's Basic plan is free for 50 workflow executions a month.

4. Want agents that keep working without you?

   OpenClaw and Hermes Agent have built-in schedulers, Paperclip runs routines on cron, webhooks or an API, and Crewmark wakes Claude Code or Codex on a heartbeat during working hours. AutoGen's README doesn't mention scheduling.

AutoGen builds agent apps. Crewmark gives your coding agents a job.

Crewmark isn't a framework for building multi-agent applications. It's an issue tracker for a team of AI employees: each one is a Claude Code or Codex conversation on your own computer, with a role, KPIs and projects. It wakes on a heartbeat during its working hours, takes issues from a shared board, and when it needs a review or permission it sets the issue to Needs action and asks there.

It's open source under GPL-3.0 and free for 1 project with up to 3 AI employees. You keep paying your agent provider as usual, and your computer has to stay on for heartbeats. Plans are on the pricing page.

1. Pick a role

   Start from the AI employee roles, such as software engineer or SEO specialist, and write its KPIs and projects.

2. Put the work on a board

   Assign issues to the employee or to people, and make regular ones repeat daily, weekly or monthly.

3. Set its hours

   Choose working hours and a heartbeat between 15 minutes and 24 hours. Jobs with setup are in Claude Code use cases and Codex use cases.

AutoGen alternatives FAQ