ByteChef vs Kestra
ByteChef
bytechef.io
Kestra
kestra.ioSide by side
| Figure | ByteChef | Kestra |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $23/mo | Free |
| Free plan | — | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | — | Yes |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | — | Yes |
| macOS | — | Yes |
| Linux | — | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 10 | 4 |
| Spec score · Integration Platform as a Service Software | 9.1 (#8) | 9.1 (#7) |
| Deployment | ByteChef Cloud is managed, while self-hosted deployments are supported on Docker, Kubernetes, AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, and DigitalOcean. | Kestra can be self-hosted with Docker or Kubernetes, and Enterprise Edition also supports cloud, on-premises and air-gapped environments. |
| Deployment model | hybrid | hybrid |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Integrations | ByteChef says it ships 277 pre-built integrations covering CRMs, communication tools, databases, file storage, and AI providers. | The plugin catalog covers databases, warehouses, queues, cloud services, CI/CD and security tools, with more than 2,200 plugins advertised on the features page. |
| Support | Starter plans include community support, Growth plans include email support, and Enterprise plans include priority support, SLAs, and optional Slack integration. | Enterprise Edition includes a customer success program and enterprise support with an SLA. |
| What it does | ByteChef is an open-source platform for building AI agents, automating workflows, and integrating SaaS tools, APIs, and databases. | Kestra is an open-source orchestration platform for scheduled and event-driven data, AI, infrastructure and business workflows. |
Plans
ByteChef
- Starter$23 a month
- Growth$135 a month
- EnterprisePrice not published
- Automation EnterprisePriced on request
- Embedded StarterPrice not published
- Automation Starter$23 a month
- Automation Growth$135 a month
- Embedded EnterprisePriced on request
- Embedded GrowthPriced on request
- Embedded StarterPriced on request
Kestra
- Open SourceFree
- Enterprise EditionPriced on request
- Kestra CloudPriced on request
- Kestra CloudPriced on request
In their own words
ByteChef
ByteChef is an open-source platform for building AI agents, automating workflows, and connecting SaaS tools, APIs, and databases. Its visual editor provides drag-and-drop construction, flow controls, execution previews, and real-time testing. Workflows can include AI agents configured with models, tools, memory, knowledge bases, and guardrails. ByteChef lists 277 pre-built integrations across areas such as CRMs, communications, databases, file storage, and AI providers; APIs without a connector can be reached through its HTTP Client action. It runs in ByteChef Cloud or on users’ infrastructure, with self-hosting options including Docker, Kubernetes, AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, and DigitalOcean. The Community Edition core and every connector use the Apache 2.0 license. Starter costs $23 per month for 5,000 tasks, one workspace, and seven-day log retention. Growth costs $135 per month for 5,000 tasks, three workspaces, and 30-day retention. Some capabilities, including role-based access control and single sign-on, are marked as coming soon.
Kestra
Kestra is a declarative orchestration platform for building, running, and governing workflows across an organization. Workflows, called flows, are defined in YAML and can combine tasks, dependencies, conditions, triggers, and runtime parameters. Execution controls include retries, failure policies, timeouts, concurrency limits, worker assignment, and log capture. Kestra advertises more than 2,000 plugins for connecting to external tools, with examples including Airbyte, AWS, Azure, BigQuery, dbt, Docker, GitHub, Kafka, Kubernetes, Slack, Snowflake, and Terraform. A flow can orchestrate SQL, Python, shell, APIs, Terraform, dbt, Spark, and custom tools. The platform includes an MCP server for AI agents and supports exposing flows as callable tools. Teams can self-host with Docker or Kubernetes; Enterprise Edition also supports cloud, on-premises, and air-gapped environments. Setup instructions cover macOS, Windows, and Linux, alongside web and API platforms. Kestra Cloud advertises up to two months free during team setup. The Open Source and Enterprise Edition plans have no price listed.