head to head · open source
Kestra vs kubero
Kestra has 28,146 GitHub stars, 2,997 forks, 713 open issues and last shipped yesterday. kubero has 4,419 stars, 213 forks, 128 open issues and last shipped 9 days ago. Kestra leads on adoption by 537% (28,146 vs 4,419 stars). Kestra is written in Java under Apache-2.0; kubero is written in TypeScript under GPL-3.0. Kestra has attracted 11% as many forks as stars, kubero 5%. Kestra was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (hacktoberfest), 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 | kubero | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 28K | ★ 4.4K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Java | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-09 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.0K | ⑂ 213 |
| 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 kubero if
- You want the kubero feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and kubero 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 kubero
Kubero is a self hosted Platform as a Service for the Kubernetes ecosystem. It is written in TypeScript and released under the GPL 3.0 license. It gives developers a web based control layer for deploying applications on Kubernetes without specialized platform knowledge. It follows twelve factor principles and can run services from existing container images or source code.
read the full kubero overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Kestra or kubero more popular?
Kestra has 28,146 GitHub stars and kubero has 4,419. Kestra has the larger community by that measure.
Are Kestra and kubero free?
Both are open source. Kestra is licensed under Apache-2.0 and kubero under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Kestra and kubero?
Kestra is written in Java and kubero 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 kubero?
Choose Kestra if you want the larger community (28,146 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose kubero if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.