head to head · open source
conductor vs harmonist
conductor has 32,401 GitHub stars, 1,051 forks, 253 open issues and last shipped yesterday. harmonist has 2,244 stars, 209 forks, 1 open issues and last shipped 5 months ago. conductor leads on adoption by 1,344% (32,401 vs 2,244 stars). conductor is written in Java under Apache-2.0; harmonist is written in Python under MIT. conductor has attracted 3% as many forks as stars, harmonist 9%. 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 | harmonist | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 32K | ★ 2.2K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Java | Python |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-06-09 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.1K | ⑂ 209 |
| 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 harmonist if
- You want the harmonist feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and harmonist 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 harmonist
If you are an AI agent asked to install or integrate this pack: read integration prompt.md and execute its steps. Do not apply AGENTS.template.md as a live rule inside the pack folder — it is the template that becomes the user project's AGENTS.md during integration. Harmonist Portable AI agent orchestration with mechanical protocol enforcement A drop in multi agent framework for Cursor, Claude Code, Copilot, Windsurf, Aider, and other AI coding assistants. Built and maintained by GammaLab · @GammaLabTechnologies Most AI coding frameworks trust the language model to follow the rules. Harmonist refuses to let it…
read the full harmonist overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is conductor or harmonist more popular?
conductor has 32,401 GitHub stars and harmonist has 2,244. conductor has the larger community by that measure.
Are conductor and harmonist free?
Both are open source. conductor is licensed under Apache-2.0 and harmonist under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between conductor and harmonist?
conductor is written in Java and harmonist 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 harmonist?
Choose conductor if you want the larger community (32,401 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose harmonist if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.