head to head · open source
Kestra vs bree
Kestra has 28,146 GitHub stars, 2,997 forks, 713 open issues and last shipped yesterday. bree has 3,293 stars, 87 forks, 29 open issues and last shipped 7 months ago. Kestra leads on adoption by 755% (28,146 vs 3,293 stars). Kestra is written in Java under Apache-2.0; bree is written in JavaScript under MIT. Kestra has attracted 11% as many forks as stars, bree 3%. Kestra 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
| Kestra | bree | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 28K | ★ 3.3K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Java | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-02-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.0K | ⑂ 87 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Kestra if
- You weight community size — 28K 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 bree if
- You want the bree feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and bree fits your workflow better
About Kestra
Kestra is an open source, event driven orchestration platform for data, AI, and infrastructure workflows. It operates in the Java based ecosystem and is licensed under Apache 2.0. The project provides a unified interface for both scheduled and real time automation, supporting declarative workflow definitions in YAML while also offering visual and AI assisted authoring.
read the full Kestra overview →
About bree
Bree is Node.js and JavaScript job task scheduler. It runs scheduled work inside Node.js apps. It uses worker threads to spawn sandboxed processes. It supports cron, Date, ms, later, and human friendly syntax. It lives in Node.js scheduling ecosystem.
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Frequently asked questions
Is Kestra or bree more popular?
Kestra has 28,146 GitHub stars and bree has 3,293. Kestra has the larger community by that measure.
Are Kestra and bree free?
Both are open source. Kestra is licensed under Apache-2.0 and bree under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Kestra and bree?
Kestra is written in Java and bree in JavaScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Kestra or bree?
Choose Kestra if you want the larger community (28,146 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose bree if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.