head to head · open source
Kestra vs Inngest
Kestra has 28,146 GitHub stars, 2,997 forks, 713 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Inngest has 5,841 stars, 357 forks, 234 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Kestra leads on adoption by 382% (28,146 vs 5,841 stars). Kestra is written in Java under Apache-2.0; Inngest is written in Go under a custom or non-standard licence. Kestra has attracted 11% as many forks as stars, Inngest 6%. 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 | Inngest | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 28K | ★ 5.8K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Custom / other |
| Written in | Java | Go |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.0K | ⑂ 357 |
| 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 Inngest if
- You want the Inngest feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and Inngest 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 Inngest
Inngest is an open source workflow orchestration platform that lets developers write durable, event driven step functions in their existing language SDKs and run them on serverless, long running servers, or the edge.
read the full Inngest overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Kestra or Inngest more popular?
Kestra has 28,146 GitHub stars and Inngest has 5,841. Kestra has the larger community by that measure.
Are Kestra and Inngest free?
Both are open source. Kestra is licensed under Apache-2.0, and Inngest has no licence declared in this registry. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Kestra and Inngest?
Kestra is written in Java and Inngest in Go. 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 Inngest?
Choose Kestra if you want the larger community (28,146 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose Inngest if its feature set, stack or Custom / other licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.