head to head · open source
xxl-job vs openworkflow
xxl-job has 30,562 GitHub stars, 11,486 forks, 79 open issues and last shipped 2 months ago. openworkflow has 1,323 stars, 66 forks, 12 open issues and last shipped yesterday. xxl-job leads on adoption by 2,210% (30,562 vs 1,323 stars). xxl-job is written in Java under GPL-3.0; openworkflow is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0. xxl-job has attracted 38% as many forks as stars, openworkflow 5%. openworkflow 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 | openworkflow | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 31K | ★ 1.3K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Java | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-07-21 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 11K | ⑂ 66 |
| 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 openworkflow if
- You want the openworkflow feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and openworkflow fits your workflow better
About xxl-job
XXL JOB is a distributed task scheduling framework written in Java and released under the GPL 3.0 licence, built for teams that need scheduled jobs to run reliably across a cluster of machines rather than inside a single application process.
read the full xxl-job overview →
About openworkflow
OpenWorkflow is an open source TypeScript framework for building durable, resumable workflows on Node.js and Bun, aimed at developers who need long running background work to survive crashes and deploys without operating extra servers.
read the full openworkflow overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is xxl-job or openworkflow more popular?
xxl-job has 30,562 GitHub stars and openworkflow has 1,323. xxl-job has the larger community by that measure.
Are xxl-job and openworkflow free?
Both are open source. xxl-job is licensed under GPL-3.0 and openworkflow under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between xxl-job and openworkflow?
xxl-job is written in Java and openworkflow in TypeScript. 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 openworkflow?
Choose xxl-job if you want the larger community (30,562 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose openworkflow if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.