head to head · open source
conductor vs earthly
conductor has 32,401 GitHub stars, 1,051 forks, 253 open issues and last shipped yesterday. earthly has 12,054 stars, 466 forks, 744 open issues and last shipped 8 days ago. conductor leads on adoption by 169% (32,401 vs 12,054 stars). conductor is written in Java under Apache-2.0; earthly is written in Go under MPL-2.0. conductor has attracted 3% as many forks as stars, earthly 4%. 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.
← all 20902 open source comparisons
Side by side
| conductor | earthly | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 32K | ★ 12K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MPL-2.0 |
| Written in | Java | Go |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-10-26 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.1K | ⑂ 466 |
| 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 earthly if
- You want the earthly feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MPL-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and earthly 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 earthly
Earthly Please note that Earthly is no longer actively maintained. Read more. It’s like Docker for builds 🔁 Repeatable Builds Write builds once, and run them anywhere – on your laptop, remote, and in any CI. ❤️ Super Simple Instantly recognizable syntax – like Dockerfile and Makefile had a baby. 🛠 Compatible with Every Language, Framework, and Build Tool If it runs on Linux, it runs on Earthly. 🏘 Great for Monorepos and Polyrepos Organize your build logic however makes the most sense for your project. 💨 Fast Builds Build caching and parallel execution makes builds fast automatically. ♻️ Reuse, Don't Repeat…
read the full earthly overview →
More in Infrastructure & Operations
Related comparisons
More Orchestration & Scheduling projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Orchestration & Scheduling field.
Frequently asked questions
Is conductor or earthly more popular?
conductor has 32,401 GitHub stars and earthly has 12,054. conductor has the larger community by that measure.
Are conductor and earthly free?
Both are open source. conductor is licensed under Apache-2.0 and earthly under MPL-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between conductor and earthly?
conductor is written in Java and earthly in Go. 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 earthly?
Choose conductor if you want the larger community (32,401 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose earthly if its feature set, stack or MPL-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.