head to head · open source
Kestra vs rtic
Kestra has 28,146 GitHub stars, 2,997 forks, 713 open issues and last shipped yesterday. rtic has 2,403 stars, 263 forks, 58 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Kestra leads on adoption by 1,071% (28,146 vs 2,403 stars). Kestra is written in Java under Apache-2.0; rtic is written in Rust under Apache-2.0. Kestra has attracted 11% as many forks as stars, rtic 11%. 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 | rtic | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 28K | ★ 2.4K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Java | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.0K | ⑂ 263 |
| 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 rtic if
- You want the rtic feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You evaluated both and rtic 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 rtic
RTIC is the Real Time Interrupt driven Concurrency framework for ARM Cortex M microcontrollers. It lives in the Rust embedded ecosystem, with topics that include bare metal, no std, concurrency, and scheduling. The README describes it as a hardware accelerated Rust RTOS and a concurrency framework for building real time systems. All Cortex M devices are fully supported, and most RISC V devices are supported.
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Frequently asked questions
Is Kestra or rtic more popular?
Kestra has 28,146 GitHub stars and rtic has 2,403. Kestra has the larger community by that measure.
Are Kestra and rtic free?
Both are open source. Kestra is licensed under Apache-2.0 and rtic under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Kestra and rtic?
Kestra is written in Java and rtic in Rust. 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 rtic?
Choose Kestra if you want the larger community (28,146 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose rtic if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.