head to head · open source
Kestra vs loonflow
Kestra has 28,146 GitHub stars, 2,997 forks, 713 open issues and last shipped yesterday. loonflow has 2,089 stars, 704 forks, 19 open issues and last shipped 4 months ago. Kestra leads on adoption by 1,247% (28,146 vs 2,089 stars). Kestra is written in Java under Apache-2.0; loonflow is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0. Kestra has attracted 11% as many forks as stars, loonflow 34%. Kestra was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (devops), 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 | loonflow | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 28K | ★ 2.1K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Java | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-05-25 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.0K | ⑂ 704 |
| 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 loonflow if
- You want the loonflow feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and loonflow 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 loonflow
Loonflow is an open source process automation platform for enterprises, built around ticket and workflow operations. It lives in the Django and Python web ecosystem, and the README also identifies React and MUI for the interface.
read the full loonflow overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Kestra or loonflow more popular?
Kestra has 28,146 GitHub stars and loonflow has 2,089. Kestra has the larger community by that measure.
Are Kestra and loonflow free?
Both are open source. Kestra is licensed under Apache-2.0 and loonflow under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Kestra and loonflow?
Kestra is written in Java and loonflow 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 loonflow?
Choose Kestra if you want the larger community (28,146 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose loonflow if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.