head to head · open source
Prefect vs Dagu
Prefect has 23,882 GitHub stars, 2,527 forks, 858 open issues and last shipped today. Dagu has 4,036 stars, 339 forks, 67 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Prefect leads on adoption by 492% (23,882 vs 4,036 stars). Prefect is written in Python under Apache-2.0; Dagu is written in Go under GPL-3.0. Prefect has attracted 11% as many forks as stars, Dagu 8%. Prefect 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
| Prefect | Dagu | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 24K | ★ 4.0K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Python | Go |
| Last push | 2026-09-20 | 2026-09-19 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.5K | ⑂ 339 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Prefect if
- You weight community size — 24K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Dagu if
- You want the Dagu feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and Dagu fits your workflow better
About Prefect
Prefect is an open source, Python native workflow orchestration framework that lets data and machine learning teams turn ordinary Python scripts into scheduled, resilient, observable production pipelines.
read the full Prefect overview →
About Dagu
Dagu is local first workflow engine. It targets operations and internal automation. It lives in Infrastructure & Operations / Orchestration & Scheduling. It is Go project under GPL 3.0. It provides single binary with built in Web UI. It needs no external database or message broker. It runs on Linux, macOS, Windows. GitHub metadata lists 3982 stars, 332 forks, 0 contributors, 67 open issues, repo age 0 years, last push 2026 09 14.
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Frequently asked questions
Is Prefect or Dagu more popular?
Prefect has 23,882 GitHub stars and Dagu has 4,036. Prefect has the larger community by that measure.
Are Prefect and Dagu free?
Both are open source. Prefect is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Dagu under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Prefect and Dagu?
Prefect is written in Python and Dagu in Go. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Prefect or Dagu?
Choose Prefect if you want the larger community (23,882 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose Dagu if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.