head to head · open source
Prefect vs Inngest
Prefect has 23,857 GitHub stars, 2,528 forks, 858 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Inngest has 5,841 stars, 357 forks, 234 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Prefect leads on adoption by 308% (23,857 vs 5,841 stars). Prefect is written in Python under Apache-2.0; Inngest is written in Go under a custom or non-standard licence. Prefect has attracted 11% as many forks as stars, Inngest 6%. Inngest 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
| Prefect | Inngest | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 24K | ★ 5.8K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Custom / other |
| Written in | Python | Go |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.5K | ⑂ 357 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Prefect if
- You weight community size — 24K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Inngest if
- You want the Inngest feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and Inngest fits your workflow better
About Prefect
Prefect is an open source, Python native workflow orchestration framework that lets data and machine learning teams turn ordinary Python scripts into scheduled, resilient, observable production pipelines.
read the full Prefect overview →
About Inngest
Inngest is an open source workflow orchestration platform that lets developers write durable, event driven step functions in their existing language SDKs and run them on serverless, long running servers, or the edge.
read the full Inngest overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Prefect or Inngest more popular?
Prefect has 23,857 GitHub stars and Inngest has 5,841. Prefect has the larger community by that measure.
Are Prefect and Inngest free?
Both are open source. Prefect is licensed under Apache-2.0, and Inngest has no licence declared in this registry. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Prefect and Inngest?
Prefect is written in Python and Inngest in Go. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Prefect or Inngest?
Choose Prefect if you want the larger community (23,857 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose Inngest if its feature set, stack or Custom / other licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.