head to head · open source
conductor vs vibe-kanban
conductor has 32,401 GitHub stars, 1,051 forks, 253 open issues and last shipped yesterday. vibe-kanban has 28,569 stars, 3,050 forks, 540 open issues and last shipped 5 days ago. conductor leads on adoption by 13% (32,401 vs 28,569 stars). conductor is written in Java under Apache-2.0; vibe-kanban is written in Rust under Apache-2.0. conductor has attracted 3% as many forks as stars, vibe-kanban 11%. 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 | vibe-kanban | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 32K | ★ 29K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Java | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-10-29 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.1K | ⑂ 3.0K |
| 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 vibe-kanban if
- You want the vibe-kanban feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You evaluated both and vibe-kanban 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 vibe-kanban
Get 10X more out of Claude Code, Gemini CLI, Codex, Amp and other coding agents... Vibe Kanban is sunsetting. Read the announcement. Overview In a world where software engineers spend most of their time planning and reviewing coding agents, the most impactful way to ship more is to get faster at planning and review. Vibe Kanban is built for this. Use kanban issues to plan work, either privately or with your team. When you're ready to begin, create workspaces where coding agents can execute. Plan with kanban issues — create, prioritise, and assign issues on a kanban board Run coding agents in workspaces — each…
read the full vibe-kanban overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is conductor or vibe-kanban more popular?
conductor has 32,401 GitHub stars and vibe-kanban has 28,569. conductor has the larger community by that measure.
Are conductor and vibe-kanban free?
Both are open source. conductor is licensed under Apache-2.0 and vibe-kanban under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between conductor and vibe-kanban?
conductor is written in Java and vibe-kanban 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 vibe-kanban?
Choose conductor if you want the larger community (32,401 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose vibe-kanban if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.