head to head · open source
conductor vs hcom
conductor has 32,401 GitHub stars, 1,051 forks, 253 open issues and last shipped yesterday. hcom has 624 stars, 103 forks, 38 open issues and last shipped 13 days ago. conductor leads on adoption by 5,092% (32,401 vs 624 stars). conductor is written in Java under Apache-2.0; hcom is written in Rust under MIT. conductor has attracted 3% as many forks as stars, hcom 17%. 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 | hcom | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 32K | ★ 624 |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Java | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-10-21 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.1K | ⑂ 103 |
| 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 hcom if
- You want the hcom feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You evaluated both and hcom 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 hcom
hcom Hook your coding agents together hcom is a CLI that coding agents use to message, watch, and spawn each other across terminals. Works with Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode, Kilo Code, Pi, Oh My Pi, Antigravity, Cursor, Kimi and Copilot in any combination, without changing how you use them. Use it to coordinate pipelines, run different AI CLIs as each other's subagents, or just instead of copy paste. Single Rust binary, no background services. Start an agent with hcom in front, then prompt normally. Install Other install options Quickstart Terminal 1: Terminal 2: Prompt: ask the other agent their favorite cake…
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Frequently asked questions
Is conductor or hcom more popular?
conductor has 32,401 GitHub stars and hcom has 624. conductor has the larger community by that measure.
Are conductor and hcom free?
Both are open source. conductor is licensed under Apache-2.0 and hcom under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between conductor and hcom?
conductor is written in Java and hcom in Rust. 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 hcom?
Choose conductor if you want the larger community (32,401 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose hcom if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.