head to head · open source
Inngest vs operaton
Inngest has 5,999 GitHub stars, 384 forks, 234 open issues and last shipped yesterday. operaton has 505 stars, 136 forks, 68 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Inngest leads on adoption by 1,088% (5,999 vs 505 stars). Inngest is written in Go under a custom or non-standard licence; operaton is written in Java under Apache-2.0. Inngest has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, operaton 27%. Inngest 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.
← all 20902 open source comparisons
Side by side
| Inngest | operaton | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 6.0K | ★ 505 |
| License | Custom / other | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Go | Java |
| Last push | 2026-10-28 | 2026-10-28 |
| Forks | ⑂ 384 | ⑂ 136 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Inngest if
- You weight community size — 6.0K stars and counting
- You want the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick operaton if
- You want the operaton 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 operaton fits your workflow better
About Inngest
Inngest's durable functions replace queues, state management, and scheduling to enable any developer to write reliable step functions faster without touching infrastructure. 1. Write durable functions using any of our language SDKs 2. Run the Inngest Dev Server for a complete local development experience, with production parity. 3. Deploy your functions to your own infrastructure 4. Sync your application's functions with the Inngest Platform or a self hosted Inngest server. 5. Inngest invokes your functions securely via HTTPS whenever triggering events are received. An example durable function Inngest Functions…
read the full Inngest overview →
About operaton
The open source BPMN platform for mission critical process automation Forum · Documentation · Roadmap Operaton is a native BPMN 2.0 process engine that runs inside the Java Virtual Machine. Born from the Camunda 7 community edition, Operaton continues to evolve and modernize the platform as a truly community driven project. Proven — Evolved from the Camunda 7 codebase, with over a decade of production use by thousands of companies worldwide. Embeddable — Runs inside any Java application. Integrates with Spring Boot, Quarkus, and Jakarta EE. Full Stack — Process engine, REST API, and web apps (Cockpit, Tasklist…
read the full operaton overview →
More in Infrastructure & Operations
Related comparisons
More Orchestration & Scheduling projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Orchestration & Scheduling field.
Frequently asked questions
Is Inngest or operaton more popular?
Inngest has 5,999 GitHub stars and operaton has 505. Inngest has the larger community by that measure.
Are Inngest and operaton free?
Both are open source. Inngest has no licence declared in this registry, and operaton is licensed under Apache-2.0. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Inngest and operaton?
Inngest is written in Go and operaton 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, Inngest or operaton?
Choose Inngest if you want the larger community (5,999 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose operaton if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.