head to head · open source
conductor vs nuke
conductor has 32,401 GitHub stars, 1,051 forks, 253 open issues and last shipped yesterday. nuke has 3,751 stars, 455 forks, 121 open issues and last shipped 11 months ago. conductor leads on adoption by 764% (32,401 vs 3,751 stars). conductor is written in Java under Apache-2.0; nuke is written in C# under MIT. conductor has attracted 3% as many forks as stars, nuke 12%. 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 | nuke | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 32K | ★ 3.8K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Java | C# |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2025-12-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.1K | ⑂ 455 |
| 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 nuke if
- You want the nuke feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches C#
- You evaluated both and nuke 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 nuke
The AKEless Build System for C /.NET Table of Contents Elevator Pitch Example Build Status Technology Sponsors Elevator Pitch Solid and scalable CI/CD pipelines are an essential pillar for being competitive and creating a great product. But why are most of us a little afraid of touching YAML files and don't even dare to look at build scripts? Much of this is because C developers are spoiled with a great language and smart IDEs, and they don't like missing their buddy for code completion, ease of debugging, refactorings, and code formatting. NUKE brings your build automation to an even level with every other .NET…
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Frequently asked questions
Is conductor or nuke more popular?
conductor has 32,401 GitHub stars and nuke has 3,751. conductor has the larger community by that measure.
Are conductor and nuke free?
Both are open source. conductor is licensed under Apache-2.0 and nuke under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between conductor and nuke?
conductor is written in Java and nuke in C#. 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 nuke?
Choose conductor if you want the larger community (32,401 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose nuke if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.