Faktory vs River

Faktory is a persistent background job system that works across programming languages. It includes a responsive web interface for viewing and managing jobs, and uses Redis as a child process for local storage, persisting data to its configured directory. The maker lists worker bindings for Node/JavaScript, Ruby, Go, Python, PHP, Elixir, Rust, Swift, Crystal, Haskell, Java/JVM,.NET, and Clojure. Linux RPM and DEB packages, macOS Homebrew installation, and a Docker image are documented. Faktory supports TLS for worker and HTTP ports, with clients authenticated by a configured global password. The OSS edition is free under AGPL and has no dedicated support. Enterprise features include cron jobs, unique and expiring jobs, Redis Gateway, StatsD metrics, queue throttling, batches or workflows, and job status. Enterprise production use requires a valid license and is limited to purchased connections: the first pack is $299 a month for 100 connections, and each additional pack is $99 a month for 100 connections. Faktory does not provide clustered high availability; persistence and failover rely on Redis replication.

River is a background job queue for Go applications, using PostgreSQL or SQLite to store jobs. Its transactional enqueueing keeps a job from running until the database transaction that inserted it has completed. The core set includes isolated queues, unique jobs, prioritization, recurring cron jobs, snoozing, transactional completion, and test helpers. A web interface, pause and resume controls, automatic retries, error reporting, and telemetry integrations support operations. River UI is optional and self-hosted, with no external service dependencies. PostgreSQL is the primary database target; SQLite support is experimental. River Pro adds workflows that split complex work into individually retryable tasks, plus batching, concurrency limits, and ordered job sequences. The free Open Source plan includes the web UI but excludes workflows, concurrency limits, and support. Pro costs $125 a month and includes email support for up to 20 developers. Enterprise pricing is custom and includes email and Slack support, unlimited developers, and access to a SOC 2 report.