head to head · open source
flowable-engine vs obelisk
flowable-engine has 9,635 GitHub stars, 2,904 forks, 411 open issues and last shipped 18 days ago. obelisk has 766 stars, 19 forks, 2 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. flowable-engine leads on adoption by 1,158% (9,635 vs 766 stars). flowable-engine is written in Java under Apache-2.0; obelisk is written in Rust under AGPL-3.0. flowable-engine has attracted 30% as many forks as stars, obelisk 2%. obelisk was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (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.
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Side by side
| flowable-engine | obelisk | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 9.6K | ★ 766 |
| License | Apache-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Java | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-10-18 | 2026-11-03 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.9K | ⑂ 19 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick flowable-engine if
- You weight community size — 9.6K 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 obelisk if
- You want the obelisk feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You evaluated both and obelisk fits your workflow better
About flowable-engine
Flowable ======== Homepage: flowable / flowəb(ə)l / a compact and highly efficient workflow and Business Process Management (BPM) platform for developers, system admins and business users. a lightning fast, tried and tested BPMN process engine, CMMN case engine and DMN rule engine written in Java. It is Apache 2.0 licensed open source, with a committed community. can run embedded in a Java application, or as a service on a server, a cluster, and in the cloud. It integrates perfectly with Spring. With a rich Java and REST API, it is the ideal engine for orchestrating human or system activities. Introduction…
read the full flowable-engine overview →
About obelisk
Obelisk A deterministic workflow engine built on the WASM Component Model. [!WARNING] Pre release : Expect changes in CLI, gRPC, WIT, and database schema. Obelisk in Action The Stargazers app features: A webhook listening to GitHub star events. Activities for interacting with Turso DB, OpenAI, and GitHub. A workflow orchestrating the activities. Obelisk fly.io deployment tool features: A complete workflow for deploying Obelisk apps on fly.io Cleanup / compensating actions on failure What's Included Obelisk Runtime : A single binary executing deterministic workflows, activities, and webhook endpoints, persisting…
read the full obelisk overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is flowable-engine or obelisk more popular?
flowable-engine has 9,635 GitHub stars and obelisk has 766. flowable-engine has the larger community by that measure.
Are flowable-engine and obelisk free?
Both are open source. flowable-engine is licensed under Apache-2.0 and obelisk under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between flowable-engine and obelisk?
flowable-engine is written in Java and obelisk 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, flowable-engine or obelisk?
Choose flowable-engine if you want the larger community (9,635 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose obelisk if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.