head to head · open source
conductor vs quirrel
conductor has 32,404 GitHub stars, 1,050 forks, 253 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. quirrel has 929 stars, 68 forks, 39 open issues and last shipped 8 days ago. conductor leads on adoption by 3,388% (32,404 vs 929 stars). conductor is written in Java under Apache-2.0; quirrel is written in TypeScript under MIT. conductor has attracted 3% as many forks as stars, quirrel 7%. 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 | quirrel | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 32K | ★ 929 |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Java | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-10-31 | 2026-10-26 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.1K | ⑂ 68 |
| 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 quirrel if
- You want the quirrel feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and quirrel 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 quirrel
Quirrel 🎉 Quirrel joins Netlify. Learn more 🎉 The Task Queueing Solution for Serverless. Landing Page Documentation Quirrel makes job queueing simple as cake. It supports delayed jobs, fanout jobs, recurring jobs and CRON jobs. Quirrel values ... great DX (through tailormade client libraries & the development UI) privacy (through end to end encryption) free software (it's MIT licensed!) easy setup (through hosted offering and easy on prem) Getting Started If you want to learn about Quirrel, check out the tutorial! If you want to integrate Quirrel into an existing application, check out the Getting Started…
read the full quirrel overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is conductor or quirrel more popular?
conductor has 32,404 GitHub stars and quirrel has 929. conductor has the larger community by that measure.
Are conductor and quirrel free?
Both are open source. conductor is licensed under Apache-2.0 and quirrel under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between conductor and quirrel?
conductor is written in Java and quirrel 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 quirrel?
Choose conductor if you want the larger community (32,404 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose quirrel if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.