head to head · open source
Automa vs Windmill
Automa has 21,624 GitHub stars, 2,340 forks, 377 open issues and last shipped 7 months ago. Windmill has 17,957 stars, 1,096 forks, 852 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Automa leads on adoption by 20% (21,624 vs 17,957 stars). Automa is written in Vue under a custom or non-standard licence; Windmill is written in Rust under a custom or non-standard licence. Automa has attracted 11% as many forks as stars, Windmill 6%. Windmill 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
| Automa | Windmill | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 22K | ★ 18K |
| License | Custom / other | Custom / other |
| Written in | Vue | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-03-02 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.3K | ⑂ 1.1K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Automa if
- You weight community size — 22K stars and counting
- You want the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches Vue
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Windmill if
- You want the Windmill feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You evaluated both and Windmill fits your workflow better
About Automa
Automa browser extension. Automate browser by connect blocks. Vue project. Chrome and Firefox ecosystem. Problem: repeat browser tasks take time. User make workflow with blocks. No code write. Workflows do form fill, repetitive task, screenshot, scrape website data. Can schedule when automation execute. Marketplace share and download workflow. Automa Chrome Extension Builder make standalone Chrome extension from Automa workflow. Project lives as browser extension, not hosted automation service. The project also lists Chrome and Firefox extension downloads.
read the full Automa overview →
About Windmill
Windmill is an open source developer platform for internal code, including APIs, background jobs, workflows, and UIs. It lives in the self hostable low code automation ecosystem and supports Python, TypeScript, Go, Bash, SQL, GraphQL, PowerShell, Rust, and more. The project is positioned as an open source alternative to Zapier and, in the README, to Retool, Pipedream, Superblocks, and a simplified Temporal.
read the full Windmill overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Automa or Windmill more popular?
Automa has 21,624 GitHub stars and Windmill has 17,957. Automa has the larger community by that measure.
Are Automa and Windmill free?
Neither Automa nor Windmill declares a licence in this registry, so check each project's own repository before relying on either for a commercial use. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Automa and Windmill?
Automa is written in Vue and Windmill 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, Automa or Windmill?
Choose Automa if you want the larger community (21,624 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose Windmill if its feature set, stack or Custom / other licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.