Drools vs GoRules BRMS
Drools
kie.apache.org
GoRules BRMS
gorules.ioSide by side
| Figure | Drools | GoRules BRMS |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | $167/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | — |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | — | Yes |
| Windows | — | Yes |
| macOS | — | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 4 |
| Spec score · Business Rules Management Software | 8.0 (#6) | 8.0 (#7) |
| Founded | 2001 | 2023 |
| Integrations | Drools rules can be called directly by a BPMN business rule task in jBPM within the same service. | The ZEN Engine has SDKs for Node.js, Python, Go, Rust, Java, Kotlin, C#, and Swift, and the documentation describes integration through SDKs or a REST API. |
| Purpose | Drools is a forward-chaining and backward-chaining inference-based rule engine used to build expert systems. | GoRules BRMS is a platform for authoring, testing, reviewing, and releasing business rules with version control, approvals, and an audit trail. |
| Rule authoring | Rules can also be expressed through Excel decision tables, rule templates, or a Java executable model API. | Decision models can use decision tables, expressions, JavaScript functions, and switch nodes. |
| Security | The Apache Security Team coordinates handling of Apache project vulnerabilities and encourages private reports before public disclosure. | The security page states that GoRules uses AES-256 encryption at rest, TLS 1.3 between components, and sandboxed rule execution without filesystem or network access. |
| Support | The project lists a users mailing list and Zulip chat as community contact channels. | The documentation says Business and Enterprise customers can submit support tickets, and Enterprise customers can access a dedicated Slack or Microsoft Teams channel. |
Plans
GoRules BRMS
- Pro$167 a month
- Business$500 a month
- EnterprisePriced on request
- FreePrice not published
In their own words
Drools
Drools is a free, open-source rule engine for building expert systems with forward- and backward-chaining inference. Its DMN engine supports Conformance level 3, covering the features in that standard, and can statically analyze decision tables for gaps and overlaps. For event processing, it reasons over streams using temporal operators, sliding windows, and event expiration. Developers can define rules in DRL text files alongside Java code, or use Excel decision tables, rule templates, or a Java executable model API. Rule units organize rules with typed containers for input data, and Kogito can generate REST endpoints from them. Drools rules can also be called by a BPMN business rule task in jBPM within the same service. Apache KIE states that the DMN engine passes 99.9% of DMN TCK tests as of version 10.2.0. The project is available for API, Linux, and self-hosted use at free. Getting started requires an IDE, JDK 21 or 17, and Maven 3.9 or later. Apache KIE is undergoing incubation and has not yet been fully endorsed by the ASF.
GoRules BRMS
GoRules BRMS is a platform for creating, testing, reviewing, and releasing business rules with version control, approvals, and an audit trail. Decision models can use tables, expressions, JavaScript functions, and switch nodes. Teams can test rules against sample data and scenario suites, while the editor flags type and syntax errors during editing. Drafts, history, visual diffs, branches, and commits track user-attributed changes. Immutable releases can move from development to staging to production unchanged, or roll back to an earlier release. GoRules AI can draft table and graph changes, create and run tests, explain decisions, and draft policies, but it does not deploy releases. The ZEN Engine has SDKs for Node.js, Python, Go, Rust, Java, Kotlin, C#, and Swift, plus REST API integration. The BRMS can be self-hosted with Docker and PostgreSQL on cloud platforms or Kubernetes. The Free plan lists two users and one project, with no deployment environments. Pro costs $167 a month, billed annually. GoRules does not support DMN.