Kestra vs Workflow Engine
Kestra
kestra.ioWorkflow Engine
workflowengine.ioSide by side
| Figure | Kestra | Workflow Engine |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | $666.67/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | Yes | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 4 | 7 |
| Spec score · Workflow Orchestration Software | 8.6 (#10) | 7.8 (#25) |
| Deployment | Kestra can be self-hosted with Docker or Kubernetes, and Enterprise Edition also supports cloud, on-premises and air-gapped environments. | Workflow Engine NEO adds an HTTP API and multitenancy, while Workflow Server is a standalone Docker service called over HTTP. |
| Integrations | 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. | The maker lists plugins including Approval, Loops, File, Active Directory and Entra ID, Real-Time Tracking, and support for custom plugins. |
| Product | Kestra is a declarative orchestration platform for building, running and governing workflows across an organization. | Workflow Engine is an embeddable .NET workflow library that persists business process state in your database and supports timers, audit history, and process versioning. |
| Security | Kestra Cloud advertises SOC 2 Type 1 and Type 2 and GDPR status through its linked Trust Center. | The core engine has no user store and delegates workflow command authorization to an application-provided rule provider; authentication remains the host application's responsibility. |
| Support | Enterprise Edition includes a customer success program and enterprise support with an SLA. | The maker directs existing customers to technical support under their support plan and offers public GitHub Discussions for questions. |
Plans
Kestra
- Open SourceFree
- Enterprise EditionPriced on request
- Kestra CloudPriced on request
- Kestra CloudPriced on request
Workflow Engine
- Workflow Engine FreeFree
- Workflow Engine Team$2,000, paid once
- Workflow Engine Complete$5,000, paid once
- Workflow Engine NEO Subscription$8,000 a year
- Workflow Engine NEO Business$10,000, paid once
- Workflow Engine NEO SaaS$15,000, paid once
- Workflow Engine NEO EnterprisePriced on request
In their own words
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.
Workflow Engine
Workflow Engine is an embeddable.NET library for managing business processes while saving their state in your database. It supports timers, audit history, and process versioning, and includes an HTML5 visual designer that can be embedded in an application. Designer packages are available for React, Angular, and vanilla JavaScript, with a documented Blazor integration. The core package supports.NET Framework 4.6.2 through.NET 10 and is deployed on-premises or in a customer's cloud. Supported databases include SQL Server, Azure SQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, Azure Cosmos DB, MySQL, Oracle, and SQLite. It imports BPMN 2.0 diagrams as native schemes, but does not export diagrams back to BPMN. Workflow Engine Free is licensed for personal, non-commercial use and costs nothing; it is limited to 10 schemas and 4 execution threads. Paid options include one-time licenses and subscriptions. NEO adds an HTTP API and multitenancy, while Workflow Server is a standalone Docker service called over HTTP. The core engine has no user store; authentication is the host application's responsibility.