AWS Step Functions vs Dapr
AWS Step Functions
aws.amazon.comDapr
dapr.ioSide by side
| Figure | AWS Step Functions | Dapr |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | $1,199/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | Yes |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | — |
| Windows | — | Yes |
| macOS | — | Yes |
| Linux | — | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 3 | 4 |
| Spec score · Process Orchestration Software | 7.9 (#11) | 9.2 (#1) |
| Integrations | Service integrations connect workflows to over 200 AWS services, and AWS SDK integrations can invoke over 9,000 API actions from over 200 services. | Official integrations include AWS, Azure, KEDA, GitHub Actions, the Dapr Kubernetes Operator, Kratix Marketplace, and Argo CD. |
| Security | Step Functions uses IAM to control access to AWS services and resources, and AWS requires TLS 1.2 while recommending TLS 1.3 for network clients. | Dapr uses automatically enabled mutual TLS between sidecars, App IDs, namespace isolation and policy-based access controls for services, topics, components and secrets. |
Plans
AWS Step Functions
- Free TierFree
- Express WorkflowsPrice not published
- Standard WorkflowsPrice not published
Dapr
- Cloud FreeFree
- Dedicated Cloud$1,199 a month
- BYOC$1,599 a month
- Enterprise ServerPriced on request
In their own words
AWS Step Functions
AWS Step Functions is a cloud workflow service for coordinating AWS services and HTTPS endpoints, including SaaS applications. Workflows are state machines written in Amazon States Language, with Workflow Studio providing a visual designer. Definitions can branch, run steps in parallel, set timeouts, retry failures, and handle errors with try/catch or rollback patterns. Service integrations connect to over 200 AWS services, while AWS SDK integrations can invoke over 9,000 API actions. HTTPS endpoint integration connects directly to HTTP-based services. Distributed Map can process large datasets, including Amazon S3 data, with up to 10,000 parallel child executions in one Map Run. Execution history, CloudWatch Logs, and AWS X-Ray support review and tracing. Standard executions can run for up to one year; Express executions can run for up to five minutes. Task, state, or execution input and output is limited to 256 KiB. A Free Tier plan is listed at free indefinitely; Standard and Express plans bill usage.
Dapr
Dapr is an open-source runtime that provides APIs for durable workflows and distributed application services. Its workflows handle long-running stateful processes with retries, timers, human approvals, and sagas. Dapr also supports AI agents using checkpointed plans to recover after failures. Service invocation offers HTTP or gRPC communication with discovery, tracing, and error handling; additional APIs cover pub/sub, state, actors, jobs, secrets, configuration, bindings, distributed locks, and cryptography. Dapr runs as a sidecar process or container, keeping its runtime code out of application code. It can run on Kubernetes or self-hosted on Windows, Linux, or macOS machines, including physical and virtual machines across cloud and edge environments. Security includes mTLS encryption in transit, access policies, and automatic certificate rotation. Stable SDKs are available for.NET, Python, Java, Go, PHP, and JavaScript. Dapr is free and open source. Separate paid options include Dedicated Cloud starting at $1,199 a month and BYOC starting at $1,599 a month; both list a first 14 days free.