Drools vs Rulebricks

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.

Rulebricks is a visual decision-management platform for automating business processes. Teams can model decisions through a no-code interface and publish API endpoints, so domain experts and process owners can update rules without writing code. Excel models can be imported to generate rules, while multi-rule workflows and a test management UI and API support orchestration and pre-deployment checks. What-if backtests help assess the business impact of changing conditions. Decision tables can also power embeddable calculators, with application branding and embedding options. Listed native integrations include Salesforce, Excel, Zapier, and PostgreSQL, and the maker says it can connect wherever an API can be called. Developer tools include a JavaScript component and programmatic controls for users, tenants, rules, and tests. Deployment options include major cloud providers, on-premises, and air-gapped environments, alongside isolated tenants, single sign-on, and fine-grained access control. The free Design plan allows up to 10 rules and flows, 1,000 monthly executions, and five team members.