head to head · open source
Kestra vs happier
Kestra has 28,275 GitHub stars, 3,023 forks, 713 open issues and last shipped yesterday. happier has 1,706 stars, 152 forks, 160 open issues and last shipped today. Kestra leads on adoption by 1,557% (28,275 vs 1,706 stars). Kestra is written in Java under Apache-2.0; happier is written in TypeScript under MIT. Kestra has attracted 11% as many forks as stars, happier 9%. happier was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (ai-agents), 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
| Kestra | happier | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 28K | ★ 1.7K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Java | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-22 | 2026-09-23 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.0K | ⑂ 152 |
| 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 happier if
- You want the happier feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and happier 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 happier
Happier is an open source, MIT licensed control room for coding agents: it runs Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode, Pi and others in parallel on your own machines, and lets you approve, steer, review and commit from web, desktop and mobile clients that are fully end to end encrypted.
read the full happier overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Kestra or happier more popular?
Kestra has 28,275 GitHub stars and happier has 1,706. Kestra has the larger community by that measure.
Are Kestra and happier free?
Both are open source. Kestra is licensed under Apache-2.0 and happier under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Kestra and happier?
Kestra is written in Java and happier in TypeScript. 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 happier?
Choose Kestra if you want the larger community (28,275 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose happier if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.