head to head · open source
Kestra vs livecontext-ce
Kestra has 28,181 GitHub stars, 3,005 forks, 713 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. livecontext-ce has 502 stars, 59 forks, 0 open issues and last shipped 12 days ago. Kestra leads on adoption by 5,514% (28,181 vs 502 stars). Kestra is written in Java under Apache-2.0; livecontext-ce is written in Java under AGPL-3.0. Kestra has attracted 11% as many forks as stars, livecontext-ce 12%. 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 | livecontext-ce | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 28K | ★ 502 |
| License | Apache-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Java | Java |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-08 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.0K | ⑂ 59 |
| 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 livecontext-ce if
- You want the livecontext-ce feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Java
- You evaluated both and livecontext-ce 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 livecontext-ce
LiveContext CE is the self hosted, AGPL 3.0 Community Edition of the LiveContext AI automation platform, a single Docker deployed service where a team describes a job in chat and gets back a readable workflow, scoped AI agents and a small app the team actually uses.
read the full livecontext-ce overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Kestra or livecontext-ce more popular?
Kestra has 28,181 GitHub stars and livecontext-ce has 502. Kestra has the larger community by that measure.
Are Kestra and livecontext-ce free?
Both are open source. Kestra is licensed under Apache-2.0 and livecontext-ce under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Kestra and livecontext-ce?
Kestra is written in Java and livecontext-ce in Java. 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 livecontext-ce?
Choose Kestra if you want the larger community (28,181 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose livecontext-ce if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.