head to head · open source
conductor vs dolphinscheduler
conductor has 32,401 GitHub stars, 1,051 forks, 253 open issues and last shipped yesterday. dolphinscheduler has 14,551 stars, 5,123 forks, 128 open issues and last shipped yesterday. conductor leads on adoption by 123% (32,401 vs 14,551 stars). conductor is written in Java under Apache-2.0; dolphinscheduler is written in Java under Apache-2.0. conductor has attracted 3% as many forks as stars, dolphinscheduler 35%. conductor 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
| conductor | dolphinscheduler | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 32K | ★ 15K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Java | Java |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.1K | ⑂ 5.1K |
| 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 dolphinscheduler if
- You want the dolphinscheduler 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 dolphinscheduler 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 dolphinscheduler
Apache Dolphinscheduler About Apache DolphinScheduler is a modern data orchestration platform that empowers agile, low code development of high performance workflows. It is dedicated to handling complex task dependencies in data pipelines and provides a wide range of built in job types out of the box . Key features for DolphinScheduler are as follows: Easy to deploy, providing four deployment modes including Standalone, Cluster, Docker, and Kubernetes. Easy to use, workflows can be created and managed via Web UI, Python SDK or Open API Highly reliable and high availability, with a decentralized, multi master and…
read the full dolphinscheduler overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is conductor or dolphinscheduler more popular?
conductor has 32,401 GitHub stars and dolphinscheduler has 14,551. conductor has the larger community by that measure.
Are conductor and dolphinscheduler free?
Both are open source. conductor is licensed under Apache-2.0 and dolphinscheduler under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between conductor and dolphinscheduler?
conductor is written in Java and dolphinscheduler 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, conductor or dolphinscheduler?
Choose conductor if you want the larger community (32,401 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose dolphinscheduler if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.