head to head · open source
conductor vs dbos-transact-py
conductor has 32,401 GitHub stars, 1,051 forks, 253 open issues and last shipped yesterday. dbos-transact-py has 1,663 stars, 115 forks, 4 open issues and last shipped yesterday. conductor leads on adoption by 1,848% (32,401 vs 1,663 stars). conductor is written in Java under Apache-2.0; dbos-transact-py is written in Python under MIT. conductor has attracted 3% as many forks as stars, dbos-transact-py 7%. dbos-transact-py was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 3 topic tags (durable-execution, microservice-orchestration, workflow-engine), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
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
| conductor | dbos-transact-py | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 32K | ★ 1.7K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Java | Python |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.1K | ⑂ 115 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick conductor if
- You weight community size — 32K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Java
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick dbos-transact-py if
- You want the dbos-transact-py feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and dbos-transact-py fits your workflow better
About conductor
Conductor Durable Execution for Workflows and Agents Build agents that adapt. Run graphs that endure. Conductor is an open source durable execution platform for microservices, AI agents, and adaptive workflow graphs. It turns runtime choices—loops, branching, fan out, tool calls, approvals, retries, and cancellation—into durable, inspectable execution. It originated at Netflix and is actively maintained by Orkes and the community. Get Running in 60 Seconds Prerequisites: Node.js v16+ and Java 21+ must be installed. Open — your server is running with the built in ui next UI. Upgrading from a previous version? The…
read the full conductor overview →
About dbos-transact-py
DBOS Transact: Lightweight Durable Workflows Documentation • Examples • Github • Discord What is DBOS? DBOS provides lightweight durable workflows built on top of Postgres. Instead of managing your own workflow orchestrator or task queue system, you can use DBOS to add durable workflows and queues to your program in just a few lines of code. To get started, follow the quickstart to install this open source library and connect it to a Postgres database. Then, annotate workflows and steps in your program to make it durable! That's all you need to do—DBOS is entirely contained in this open source library…
read the full dbos-transact-py overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is conductor or dbos-transact-py more popular?
conductor has 32,401 GitHub stars and dbos-transact-py has 1,663. conductor has the larger community by that measure.
Are conductor and dbos-transact-py free?
Both are open source. conductor is licensed under Apache-2.0 and dbos-transact-py under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between conductor and dbos-transact-py?
conductor is written in Java and dbos-transact-py in Python. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, conductor or dbos-transact-py?
Choose conductor if you want the larger community (32,401 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose dbos-transact-py if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.