In Starfield, you can officially have only one active companion following you at a time during normal gameplay. This means you can choose one NPC companion to accompany you on your adventures, but not multiple companions simultaneously

. However, there are some exceptions where you might temporarily have more than one companion. For example, during certain quests, an additional NPC might follow you alongside your active companion, effectively allowing two companions for a short period

. Regarding crew members, these are different from companions. You can have multiple crew assigned to your ship or outposts, and some character skills allow you to have more active crew members (up to 4 or even 8 with higher skill ranks), but these crew members do not follow you in the field like companions do

. In summary:

• Active companions following you in the field: 1 at a time (officially).
• Temporary exceptions during quests: Sometimes 2.
• Crew members on ships/outposts: Multiple, depending on skills, but they do not follow you directly.

This limitation is likely due to technical and gameplay design reasons

. Mods may allow more followers, but officially the game restricts you to one active companion at a time.