head to head · open source
Kestra vs puppetry
Kestra has 28,148 GitHub stars, 2,999 forks, 713 open issues and last shipped yesterday. puppetry has 888 stars, 127 forks, 25 open issues and last shipped 3 months ago. Kestra leads on adoption by 3,070% (28,148 vs 888 stars). Kestra is written in Java under Apache-2.0; puppetry is written in JavaScript under MIT. Kestra has attracted 11% as many forks as stars, puppetry 14%. 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.
← all 8884 open source comparisons
Side by side
| Kestra | puppetry | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 28K | ★ 888 |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Java | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-06-19 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.0K | ⑂ 127 |
| 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 puppetry if
- You want the puppetry feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and puppetry 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 puppetry
Puppetry ⚠️ Project Deprecated After observing the market for many years since the last update, I’ve decided to officially deprecate Puppetry . Over time, it became clear that Playwright has evolved to cover almost everything I originally aimed to achieve with this project — and they do it much better. The idea of codeless end to end testing , while exciting at the time, has proven to be a technological dead end. Today, with the rise of AI assisted development , it’s possible to create robust end to end tests simply by narrating what you want to achieve — something that goes far beyond the original Puppetry visio…
read the full puppetry overview →
More in Infrastructure & Operations
Related comparisons
More Orchestration & Scheduling projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Orchestration & Scheduling field.
Frequently asked questions
Is Kestra or puppetry more popular?
Kestra has 28,148 GitHub stars and puppetry has 888. Kestra has the larger community by that measure.
Are Kestra and puppetry free?
Both are open source. Kestra is licensed under Apache-2.0 and puppetry under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Kestra and puppetry?
Kestra is written in Java and puppetry in JavaScript. 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 puppetry?
Choose Kestra if you want the larger community (28,148 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose puppetry if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.