head to head · open source
conductor vs openworkflow
conductor has 32,207 GitHub stars, 1,010 forks, 253 open issues and last shipped yesterday. openworkflow has 1,323 stars, 66 forks, 12 open issues and last shipped yesterday. conductor leads on adoption by 2,334% (32,207 vs 1,323 stars). conductor is written in Java under Apache-2.0; openworkflow is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0. conductor has attracted 3% as many forks as stars, openworkflow 5%. openworkflow was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (durable-execution, workflow-engine), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
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 8884 open source comparisons
Side by side
| conductor | openworkflow | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 32K | ★ 1.3K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Java | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.0K | ⑂ 66 |
| 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 openworkflow if
- You want the openworkflow feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and openworkflow fits your workflow better
About conductor
Conductor is an Apache 2.0 licensed, event driven agentic workflow engine written in Java that provides durable and highly resilient execution for applications and AI agents, aimed at teams running microservices, AI agents, and adaptive workflow graphs that need orchestration they can version, inspect, and recover.
read the full conductor overview →
About openworkflow
OpenWorkflow is an open source TypeScript framework for building durable, resumable workflows on Node.js and Bun, aimed at developers who need long running background work to survive crashes and deploys without operating extra servers.
read the full openworkflow 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 openworkflow more popular?
conductor has 32,207 GitHub stars and openworkflow has 1,323. conductor has the larger community by that measure.
Are conductor and openworkflow free?
Both are open source. conductor is licensed under Apache-2.0 and openworkflow under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between conductor and openworkflow?
conductor is written in Java and openworkflow in TypeScript. 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 openworkflow?
Choose conductor if you want the larger community (32,207 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose openworkflow if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.