head to head · open source
Kestra vs viewflow
Kestra has 28,146 GitHub stars, 2,997 forks, 713 open issues and last shipped yesterday. viewflow has 2,874 stars, 413 forks, 19 open issues and last shipped 5 days ago. Kestra leads on adoption by 879% (28,146 vs 2,874 stars). Kestra is written in Java under Apache-2.0; viewflow is written in Python under AGPL-3.0. Kestra has attracted 11% as many forks as stars, viewflow 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.
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Side by side
| Kestra | viewflow | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 28K | ★ 2.9K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Java | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-13 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.0K | ⑂ 413 |
| 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 viewflow if
- You want the viewflow feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and viewflow 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 viewflow
Viewflow is reusable workflow library for Django. It lives in Python and Django ecosystem, category Infrastructure & Operations / Orchestration & Scheduling. It targets low code business application building. It gives ready made components for user management, workflows, and reporting. It ships as one package. Each part works on its own, but parts also work together. Project homepage is viewflow.io. Concrete problem: business applications need process state, form handling, reporting, and integration with existing systems. Custom Django code often repeats this plumbing. Viewflow provides base classes, BPMN process…
read the full viewflow overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Kestra or viewflow more popular?
Kestra has 28,146 GitHub stars and viewflow has 2,874. Kestra has the larger community by that measure.
Are Kestra and viewflow free?
Both are open source. Kestra is licensed under Apache-2.0 and viewflow under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Kestra and viewflow?
Kestra is written in Java and viewflow 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 viewflow?
Choose Kestra if you want the larger community (28,146 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose viewflow if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.