head to head · open source
dapr vs workflow
dapr has 26,174 GitHub stars, 2,172 forks, 452 open issues and last shipped yesterday. workflow has 2,487 stars, 387 forks, 360 open issues and last shipped yesterday. dapr leads on adoption by 952% (26,174 vs 2,487 stars). dapr is written in Go under Apache-2.0; workflow is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0. dapr has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, workflow 16%. workflow was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 3 topic tags (ai-agents, durable-execution, serverless), 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.
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Side by side
| dapr | workflow | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 26K | ★ 2.5K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Go | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.2K | ⑂ 387 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick dapr if
- You weight community size — 26K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick workflow if
- You want the workflow 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 workflow fits your workflow better
About dapr
The runtime for durable execution, AI agents, and secure distributed applications [![Go Report][go report badge]][go report url] [![OpenSSF][openssf badge]][openssf url] [![Docker Pulls][docker badge]][docker url] [![Build Status][actions badge]][actions url] [![Test Status][e2e badge]][e2e url] [![Code Coverage][codecov badge]][codecov url] [![License: Apache 2.0][apache badge]][apache url] [![FOSSA Status][fossa badge]][fossa url] [![TODOs][todo badge]][todo url] [![Good First Issues][gfi badge]][gfi url] [![discord][discord badge]][discord url] [![YouTube][youtube badge]][youtube link] [![Bluesky][bluesky…
About workflow
Workflow SDK Workflow SDK makes TypeScript and JavaScript functions durable. It persists workflow progress, retries failed steps, and provides built in observability. Workflows can suspend without using compute while they wait. Quick start Install the SDK in an existing project: Configure the integration for your framework. For example, with Next.js: Then start a workflow from an API route, Server Action, or other server side code: Run your app, then open the local observability UI in another terminal: Choose your framework in the getting started guides. [!NOTE] The workflow package includes its full…
read the full workflow overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is dapr or workflow more popular?
dapr has 26,174 GitHub stars and workflow has 2,487. dapr has the larger community by that measure.
Are dapr and workflow free?
Both are open source. dapr is licensed under Apache-2.0 and workflow under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between dapr and workflow?
dapr is written in Go and workflow 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, dapr or workflow?
Choose dapr if you want the larger community (26,174 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose workflow if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.