head to head · open source
Kestra vs hcom
Kestra has 28,181 GitHub stars, 3,005 forks, 713 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. hcom has 507 stars, 79 forks, 38 open issues and last shipped 7 days ago. Kestra leads on adoption by 5,458% (28,181 vs 507 stars). Kestra is written in Java under Apache-2.0; hcom is written in Rust under MIT. Kestra has attracted 11% as many forks as stars, hcom 16%. Kestra was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (ai-agents, automation), 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 | hcom | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 28K | ★ 507 |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Java | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-13 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.0K | ⑂ 79 |
| 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 hcom if
- You want the hcom feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You evaluated both and hcom 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 hcom
hcom is a Rust CLI that lets AI coding agents such as Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode, Kilo Code, Pi, Oh My Pi, Antigravity, Cursor, Kimi, Copilot, and Gemini message, watch, and spawn one another across terminals, aimed at developers who already run more than one agent at a time.
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Frequently asked questions
Is Kestra or hcom more popular?
Kestra has 28,181 GitHub stars and hcom has 507. Kestra has the larger community by that measure.
Are Kestra and hcom free?
Both are open source. Kestra is licensed under Apache-2.0 and hcom under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Kestra and hcom?
Kestra is written in Java and hcom in Rust. 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 hcom?
Choose Kestra if you want the larger community (28,181 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose hcom if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.