head to head · open source
Prefect vs flowable-engine
Prefect has 23,882 GitHub stars, 2,527 forks, 858 open issues and last shipped today. flowable-engine has 9,542 stars, 2,890 forks, 411 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. Prefect leads on adoption by 150% (23,882 vs 9,542 stars). Prefect is written in Python under Apache-2.0; flowable-engine is written in Java under Apache-2.0. Prefect has attracted 11% as many forks as stars, flowable-engine 30%. 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 | flowable-engine | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 24K | ★ 9.5K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Python | Java |
| Last push | 2026-09-20 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.5K | ⑂ 2.9K |
| 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 flowable-engine if
- You want the flowable-engine feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Java
- You evaluated both and flowable-engine 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 flowable-engine
Flowable is an open source workflow and Business Process Management platform written in Java and distributed under the Apache 2.0 license. It bundles three engines in one project: a BPMN process engine, a CMMN case engine, and a DMN rule engine. The project lives in the Java ecosystem, integrates with Spring, and exposes both a Java API and a REST API for orchestrating human or system activities.
read the full flowable-engine overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Prefect or flowable-engine more popular?
Prefect has 23,882 GitHub stars and flowable-engine has 9,542. Prefect has the larger community by that measure.
Are Prefect and flowable-engine free?
Both are open source. Prefect is licensed under Apache-2.0 and flowable-engine under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Prefect and flowable-engine?
Prefect is written in Python and flowable-engine in Java. 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 flowable-engine?
Choose Prefect if you want the larger community (23,882 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose flowable-engine if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.