head to head · open source
ansible vs Kestra
ansible has 71,204 GitHub stars, 24,474 forks, 837 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Kestra has 30,122 stars, 3,495 forks, 713 open issues and last shipped yesterday. ansible leads on adoption by 136% (71,204 vs 30,122 stars). ansible is written in Python under GPL-3.0; Kestra is written in Java under Apache-2.0. ansible has attracted 34% as many forks as stars, Kestra 12%. ansible was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| ansible | Kestra | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 71K | ★ 30K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Python | Java |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 24K | ⑂ 3.5K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick ansible if
- You weight community size — 71K stars and counting
- You want the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Kestra if
- You want the Kestra feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Java
- You evaluated both and Kestra fits your workflow better
About ansible
[ ][copying] Ansible Ansible is a radically simple IT automation system. It handles configuration management, application deployment, cloud provisioning, ad hoc task execution, network automation, and multi node orchestration. Ansible makes complex changes like zero downtime rolling updates with load balancers easy. More information on the Ansible website. Design Principles Have an extremely simple setup process with a minimal learning curve. Manage machines quickly and in parallel. Avoid custom agents and additional open ports, be agentless by leveraging the existing SSH daemon. Describe infrastructure in a…
read the full ansible overview →
About Kestra
Open source orchestration platform for data, AI, and infrastructure workflows Click on the image to learn how to get started with Kestra in 3 minutes. 🌟 What is Kestra? Kestra is an open source, event driven orchestration platform for data, AI, and infrastructure workflows. It unifies scheduled and event driven automation behind a declarative, language agnostic interface. By bringing Infrastructure as Code best practices to your data, process, and microservice pipelines, you can build reliable workflows directly from the UI in just a few lines of YAML, let the built in AI Copilot write them for you, or generate…
read the full Kestra overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is ansible or Kestra more popular?
ansible has 71,204 GitHub stars and Kestra has 30,122. ansible has the larger community by that measure.
Are ansible and Kestra free?
Both are open source. ansible is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Kestra under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between ansible and Kestra?
ansible is written in Python and Kestra in Java. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, ansible or Kestra?
Choose ansible if you want the larger community (71,204 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose Kestra if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.