head to head · open source
flowable-engine vs viewflow
flowable-engine has 9,635 GitHub stars, 2,904 forks, 411 open issues and last shipped 18 days ago. viewflow has 2,873 stars, 415 forks, 19 open issues and last shipped 7 days ago. flowable-engine leads on adoption by 235% (9,635 vs 2,873 stars). flowable-engine is written in Java under Apache-2.0; viewflow is written in Python under AGPL-3.0. flowable-engine has attracted 30% as many forks as stars, viewflow 14%. viewflow was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 3 topic tags (bpmn, workflow, 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 | viewflow | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 9.6K | ★ 2.9K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Java | Python |
| Last push | 2026-10-18 | 2026-10-29 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.9K | ⑂ 415 |
| 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 viewflow if
- You want the viewflow feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and viewflow 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 viewflow
Viewflow The low code for developers with yesterday's deadline [![build]][build] [![coverage]][coverage] [![pypi version]][pypi] [![py versions]][pypi] Viewflow is a low code library for building business applications with Django. It gives you ready made components for user management, workflows, and reporting. You write less code but keep full control. You can customize everything and connect it to your existing systems. Build full featured business applications in a few lines of code. Viewflow ships as one package with everything included. Each part works on its own, but they all work well together. GPT…
read the full viewflow overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is flowable-engine or viewflow more popular?
flowable-engine has 9,635 GitHub stars and viewflow has 2,873. flowable-engine has the larger community by that measure.
Are flowable-engine and viewflow free?
Both are open source. flowable-engine is licensed under Apache-2.0 and viewflow under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between flowable-engine and viewflow?
flowable-engine is written in Java and viewflow in Python. 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 viewflow?
Choose flowable-engine if you want the larger community (9,635 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose viewflow if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.