head to head · open source
Kestra vs tugtainer
Kestra has 28,148 GitHub stars, 2,999 forks, 713 open issues and last shipped yesterday. tugtainer has 1,532 stars, 52 forks, 6 open issues and last shipped 6 days ago. Kestra leads on adoption by 1,737% (28,148 vs 1,532 stars). Kestra is written in Java under Apache-2.0; tugtainer is written in Python under MIT. Kestra has attracted 11% as many forks as stars, tugtainer 3%. 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 | tugtainer | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 28K | ★ 1.5K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Java | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-12 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.0K | ⑂ 52 |
| 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 tugtainer if
- You want the tugtainer feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and tugtainer 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 tugtainer
Tugtainer is a self hosted app for automating updates of your docker containers Please be aware that the application is distributed as is and is not recommended for use in a production environment. And don't forget about regular backups of important data. Automatic updates are disabled by default. You can enable only what you need. Table of contents: main features deploy private registries custom labels notifications auth api env check and update healthcheck monitoring screenshots contributing security Main features: Web UI with authentication Multiple hosts support Socket proxy support Crontab scheduling Notific…
read the full tugtainer overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Kestra or tugtainer more popular?
Kestra has 28,148 GitHub stars and tugtainer has 1,532. Kestra has the larger community by that measure.
Are Kestra and tugtainer free?
Both are open source. Kestra is licensed under Apache-2.0 and tugtainer under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Kestra and tugtainer?
Kestra is written in Java and tugtainer in Python. 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 tugtainer?
Choose Kestra if you want the larger community (28,148 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose tugtainer if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.