Haystack vs AutoGen(2026)
Haystack is better for teams that need production-grade reliability. AutoGen is the stronger choice if best for multi-agent scenarios. Haystack is open-source (from $0) and AutoGen is open-source (from $0).
Full feature breakdown, pricing details, and pros & cons below.
By Bikram Nath
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Haystack
Haystack by deepset is an open-source LLM framework for building production-ready search and question-answering pipelines with modular components and enterprise reliability.
Starting at $0
Visit HaystackAutoGen
AutoGen is Microsoft's open-source framework for building multi-agent LLM applications where agents converse with each other, use tools, and collaborate to complete complex tasks.
Starting at $0
Visit AutoGenHow Do Haystack and AutoGen Compare on Features?
| Feature | Haystack | AutoGen |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | open-source | open-source |
| Starting price | $0 | $0 |
| Modular pipeline architecture | ✓ | — |
| Document stores | ✓ | — |
| Retrieval pipelines | ✓ | — |
| Prompt builder | ✓ | — |
| Evaluation tools | ✓ | — |
| REST API deployment | ✓ | — |
| Enterprise support | ✓ | — |
| Multi-agent conversations | — | ✓ |
| Human-in-the-loop | — | ✓ |
| Code execution | — | ✓ |
| Tool use | — | ✓ |
| GroupChat orchestration | — | ✓ |
| Async support | — | ✓ |
| Studio UI | — | ✓ |
Haystack Pros and Cons vs AutoGen
Haystack
AutoGen
Should You Use Haystack or AutoGen?
For most teams, Haystack is the better default: it offers production-grade reliability and is open-source (from $0). Choose AutoGen instead if best for multi-agent scenarios matters more than smaller community than langchain. There is no universal winner — the right pick depends on your budget, team size, and whether you value production-grade reliability or best for multi-agent scenarios more.
Choose Haystack if…
- •Production-grade reliability
- •Modular architecture
- •Strong evaluation tools
Choose AutoGen if…
- •Best for multi-agent scenarios
- •Microsoft backing
- •Active research community