head to head · open source
xxl-job vs layer5
xxl-job has 30,648 GitHub stars, 11,492 forks, 79 open issues and last shipped 25 days ago. layer5 has 1,149 stars, 1,661 forks, 164 open issues and last shipped yesterday. xxl-job leads on adoption by 2,567% (30,648 vs 1,149 stars). xxl-job is written in Java under GPL-3.0; layer5 is written in JavaScript under Apache-2.0. xxl-job has attracted 37% as many forks as stars, layer5 145%. layer5 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
| xxl-job | layer5 | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 31K | ★ 1.1K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Java | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-10-09 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 11K | ⑂ 1.7K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick xxl-job if
- You weight community size — 31K stars and counting
- You want the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Java
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick layer5 if
- You want the layer5 feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and layer5 fits your workflow better
About xxl-job
XXL JOB XXL JOB, a distributed task scheduling framework. Home Page Introduction XXL JOB is a distributed task scheduling framework. It's core design goal is to develop quickly and learn simple, lightweight, and easy to expand. Now, it's already open source, and many companies use it in production environments, real "out of the box". XXL JOB是一个分布式任务调度平台，其核心设计目标是开发迅速、学习简单、轻量级、易扩展。现已开放源代码并接入多家公司线上产品线，开箱即用。 Sponsor XXL JOB is an open source and free project, with its ongoing development made possible entirely by the support of these awesome backers. XXL JOB 是一个开源且免费项目，其正在进行的开发完全得益于支持者的支持。开源不易，前往赞助项目开发 金牌赞助方 阿里云…
read the full xxl-job overview →
About layer5
If you’re using Layer5 products or if you like the project, please ★ this repository to show your support! 🤩 About Layer5 Layer5's cloud native application and infrastructure management software enables you to expect more from your infrastructure. We embrace developer defined infrastructure. We empower developers to change how they write applications, support operators in rethinking how they run modern infrastructure, and enable teams to stop finger pointing and start collaborating. Docs Projects Meshery Meshery is the collaborative cloud native manager that enables the adoption, operation, and management of…
read the full layer5 overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is xxl-job or layer5 more popular?
xxl-job has 30,648 GitHub stars and layer5 has 1,149. xxl-job has the larger community by that measure.
Are xxl-job and layer5 free?
Both are open source. xxl-job is licensed under GPL-3.0 and layer5 under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between xxl-job and layer5?
xxl-job is written in Java and layer5 in JavaScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, xxl-job or layer5?
Choose xxl-job if you want the larger community (30,648 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose layer5 if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.