Comparison
Belowdecks and CrewAI compared point by point
CrewAI gives your developers a Python framework to make several agents work together. Belowdecks installs AI agents in your business, and our team sets them up and oversees them. This page compares the two on the points that matter to a small business.
Two ways to hand work to AI
CrewAI is a Python programming framework, released under the MIT license, to make several agents work as a team, the “crews”, and to chain workflows, the “Flows”. The company behind it also offers CrewAI AMP, a platform that hosts the agents and traces their runs, adds triggers such as Gmail, Outlook, Slack, Teams and Salesforce, and includes Crew Studio, a visual editor to build an automation without code. The framework itself is aimed at developers: each agent, each task and each approval is written in Python.
Belowdecks installs AI agents in your business that take on part of the work, and our team sets them up and oversees them every month. With you, it decides what starts each agent and which actions must wait for approval by someone on your team. An agent does a piece of work from start to finish, such as answering a quote request received by email, and asks your team when information is missing.
CrewAI therefore suits a team of Python developers who want to prototype multi-agent workflows quickly. Belowdecks suits a business that wants to hand work to agents without writing code.
CrewAI and Belowdecks, line by line
The facts about CrewAI come from its public pages, checked on October 6, 2026.
What you get
- CrewAI
- A Python framework and a platform, CrewAI AMP
- Belowdecks
- Agents installed and monitored by a team
Who builds and maintains it
- CrewAI
- Your developers; no-code Crew Studio on AMP
- Belowdecks
- The Belowdecks team, from diagnostic to follow-up
What starts the work
- CrewAI
- Your code; Gmail, Slack, Salesforce on AMP
- Belowdecks
- An email, a schedule or a signal from your software
Your go-ahead before an important action
- CrewAI
- human_input or @human_feedback, in your code
- Belowdecks
- Set up at installation to wait for your approval
When information is missing
- CrewAI
- Console or webhook; email or dashboard on AMP
- Belowdecks
- The agent asks your team and waits
Assistant for your customers
- CrewAI
- A chat you build, for example with CopilotKit
- Belowdecks
- Assistant on your site; the customer confirms their request
Where data is hosted
- CrewAI
- Wherever you run it, or CrewAI AMP
- Belowdecks
- Your Belowdecks workspace; region agreed at the diagnostic
AI bill
- CrewAI
- The provider your code calls
- Belowdecks
- Billed in your name by the AI provider
Team and access
- CrewAI
- Invited members; SSO and RBAC on Enterprise
- Belowdecks
- Group permissions, invitations by email
Pricing structure
- CrewAI
- Free (MIT); limited free AMP, Enterprise
- Belowdecks
- From $449 a month, setup quoted separately
Choosing
The situation where each one fits best
Both options meet real needs. The right choice depends mostly on the time and skills your team has.
CrewAI fits better if
Your team includes Python developers who want to quickly prototype workflows where several agents share the work, then run them on the infrastructure of their choice. You are ready to program the approvals and build the chat for your customers.
Belowdecks fits better if
You have no developer to dedicate to the agents. You want important actions to wait for your go-ahead, and our team to install, update and monitor the agents every month.
Common questions about Belowdecks and CrewAI
How does CrewAI bring a person in?
A task marked human_input=True asks a person for input in the console. In Flows, the @human_feedback decorator plays that role. On CrewAI AMP, the request goes out by email: the person replies to the email, without a platform account, or answers in the dashboard. A webhook can also pass the request to the system of your choice. In each case, your developers place in the code the points where the person steps in.
With Belowdecks, we set up the agents at installation to ask someone on your team for their go-ahead before an important action. Depending on the setup, the request comes up in a conversation, during the agent’s work or before it starts, and that person can answer from an email. Before it goes live, each agent is tried on real cases, in a disposable workspace and instructed to send and change nothing, and you read what it would have done.
Can our developers build the equivalent of Belowdecks with CrewAI?
Yes, if they have the time. CrewAI provides the orchestration of the agents, and CrewAI AMP adds triggers, human feedback by email and tracing of runs. The rest has to be developed and then maintained: the assistant for your customers and the limit that keeps each agent in its folder.
Belowdecks provides these pieces, and our team sets them up with you at installation.
Where is the data kept in each case?
The CrewAI framework runs wherever your team runs it. The Enterprise version of CrewAI AMP can be deployed in CrewAI’s cloud, in your own virtual private cloud or on your own infrastructure.
Your data is kept in your Belowdecks workspace, hosted in a region agreed at the diagnostic, which may be outside Quebec. The text an agent reads goes through the AI provider, such as Anthropic or OpenAI, on your company’s account, and that provider may process it outside Quebec. Your privacy impact assessment must take this into account.
How do the costs compare?
The CrewAI framework is free under the MIT license. CrewAI AMP offers a free Basic plan, limited in runs per month, and an Enterprise plan on quote. Add the model calls and the development and maintenance time.
With Belowdecks, plans start at $449 a month with Crew, which includes 15 million tokens, and the setup is quoted separately. It includes the agents our team designs for you, and the number of agents does not change the price. The AI provider bills you directly for what the model consumes. The Pricing page details the three plans.
Sources
The information about CrewAI comes from its repository, documentation and pricing, checked on October 6, 2026: GitHub repository, documentation, Crew Studio, triggers, human feedback on AMP and pricing. CrewAI’s features and prices change often, so check them before you decide.
CrewAI is a product of CrewAI Inc. Belowdecks is not affiliated with CrewAI.
First call
Find out whether some of your work suits agents
A free 20-minute call to describe the work that takes up your time. We will tell you whether Belowdecks fits, or whether your developers can build it with CrewAI.