Open-source workflow automation tools

Open-source tools that connect your apps, schedule data pipelines and run long-lived business processes, ranked by health and with every license checked.

33 open-source projects, checked against GitHub on 1 November 2026.

All 33 workflow automation projects

Showing all 33, ordered by health score.

  1. 88 Active
    changedetection.io

    Best and simplest tool for website change detection, web page monitoring, and website change alerts. Perfect for tracking content changes, price drops, restock alerts,…

    Apache-2.0
    Setup
    1 of 5
    Stars
    35.4k
    Release
    26 October 2026
  2. 87 Active
    Apache Airflow

    Apache Airflow - A platform to programmatically author, schedule, and monitor workflows

    Apache-2.0
    Setup
    Docker
    Stars
    47.3k
    Release
    17 September 2026
  3. 86 Active
    Argo Workflows

    Workflow Engine for Kubernetes

    Apache-2.0
    Setup
    Docker
    Stars
    17.1k
    Release
    22 October 2026
  4. 85 Active
    Langflow

    Langflow is a powerful tool for building and deploying AI-powered agents and workflows.

    MIT
    Setup
    4 of 5
    Stars
    156k
    Release
    22 October 2026
  5. 85 Active
    Kestra

    Orchestrate everything, everywhere. The open-source control plane for workflows across data, infrastructure, business processes and AI agents. Declarative YAML,…

    Apache-2.0
    Setup
    2 of 5
    Stars
    30.1k
    Release
    20 October 2026
  6. 84 Active
    n8n

    Fair-code workflow automation platform with native AI capabilities. Combine visual building with custom code, self-host or cloud, 400+ integrations.

    Sustainable Use License fair-codepaid features in reporelicensed 2022CLA
    Setup
    Docker
    Stars
    209k
    Release
    30 October 2026
  7. 84 Active
    Dify

    Build Agentic workflows, RAG pipelines, with rich AI model and tool support on one collaborative workspace. Deploy on cloud, VPC, or self-hosted, so teams move from…

    Apache-2.0 with additional conditions source-availablepaid features in repo
    Setup
    4 of 5
    Stars
    160k
    Release
    23 October 2026
  8. 84 Active
    Trigger.dev

    Trigger.dev – build and deploy durable AI agents and workflows

    Apache-2.0
    Setup
    5 of 5
    Stars
    16.7k
    Release
    30 October 2026
  9. 83 Active
    Temporal

    Temporal service

    MIT CLA
    Setup
    5 of 5
    Stars
    24.1k
    Release
    8 October 2026
  10. 83 Active
    Node-RED

    Low-code programming for event-driven applications

    Apache-2.0 CLA
    Setup
    From source
    Stars
    23.8k
    Release
    21 October 2026
  11. 83 Active
    Apache DolphinScheduler

    Apache DolphinScheduler is the modern data orchestration platform. Agile to create high performance workflow with low-code

    Apache-2.0
    Setup
    5 of 5
    Stars
    14.6k
    Release
    6 September 2026
  12. 83 Active
    Hatchet

    An orchestration engine for background tasks, AI agents, and durable workflows

    MIT
    Setup
    3 of 5
    Stars
    8.2k
    Release
    26 October 2026
  13. 81 Active
    Activepieces

    AI Agents & MCPs & AI Workflow Automation • (~400 MCP servers for AI agents) • AI Automation / AI Agent with MCPs • AI Workflows & AI Agents • MCPs for AI Agents

    MIT paid features in repo
    Setup
    3 of 5
    Stars
    25.3k
    Release
    28 October 2026
  14. 81 Active
    Apache NiFi

    Apache NiFi

    Apache-2.0
    Setup
    Docker
    Stars
    6.3k
    Release
    13 September 2026
  15. 80 Active
    Prefect

    Prefect is a workflow orchestration framework for building resilient data pipelines in Python.

    Apache-2.0 relicensed 2022
    Setup
    2 of 5
    Stars
    24.1k
    Release
    30 October 2026
  16. 78 Active
    Conductor

    Conductor is an event driven agentic workflow engine providing durable and highly resilient execution engine for applications and AI Agents

    Apache-2.0
    Setup
    3 of 5
    Stars
    32.4k
    Release
    26 October 2026
  17. 78 Active
    Windmill

    Code-first platform for workflows, apps and AI agents, on the fastest self-hostable orchestrator (benchmarked against Airflow, Prefect and Temporal). Business teams…

    Apache-2.0 paid features in repoCLA
    Setup
    4 of 5
    Stars
    18.3k
    Release
    30 October 2026
  18. 77 Active
    Dagu

    Self-hostable workflow orchestrator for teams whose main work isn't orchestration. Declarative YAML over your scripts, SSH commands, containers, etc; keep workflows…

    GPL-3.0
    Setup
    1 of 5
    Stars
    4.5k
    Release
    27 October 2026
  19. 77 Active
    OliveTin

    OliveTin gives safe and simple access to predefined shell commands from a web interface.

    AGPL-3.0
    Setup
    Docker
    Stars
    3.9k
    Release
    24 October 2026
  20. 75 Active
    Typebot

    Typebot is a powerful chatbot builder that you can self-host.

    Functional Source License source-availablerelicensed 2024
    Setup
    3 of 5
    Stars
    10.6k
    Release
    20 October 2026
  21. 75 Active
    Elsa Workflows

    The Workflow Engine for .NET

    MIT relicensed 2021
    Setup
    4 of 5
    Stars
    7.9k
    Release
    4 October 2026
  22. 75 Active
    Inngest

    The leading workflow orchestration platform. Run stateful step functions and AI workflows on serverless, servers, or the edge.

    Server Side Public License source-available
    Setup
    Docker
    Stars
    6k
    Release
    23 October 2026
  23. 74 Active
    Huginn

    Create agents that monitor and act on your behalf. Your agents are standing by!

    MIT
    Setup
    3 of 5
    Stars
    50.2k
    Release
    26 October 2026
  24. 74 Active
    Budibase

    AI agents, automations and apps that run your operations. Model agnostic.

    GPL-3.0 paid features in repoCLA
    Setup
    4 of 5
    Stars
    28.4k
    Release
    19 October 2026
  25. 71 Active
    Cronmaster

    Cronjob management UI with human readable syntax, live logging and log history for your cronjobs.

    AGPL-3.0
    Setup
    1 of 5
    Stars
    1.4k
    Release
    25 October 2026
  26. 70 Active
    GoCron

    A task scheduler built with Go and Vue.js that allows users to specify recurring jobs via a simple YAML configuration file. The scheduler reads job definitions,…

    MIT
    Setup
    4 of 5
    Stars
    626
    Release
    23 October 2026
  27. 68 Active
    Dagster

    An orchestration platform for the development, production, and observation of data assets.

    Apache-2.0
    Setup
    3 of 5
    Stars
    16.4k
    Release
    30 October 2026
  28. 65 Active
    Cronicle

    A simple, distributed task scheduler and runner with a web based UI.

    MIT
    Setup
    From source
    Stars
    5.9k
    Release
    28 October 2026
  29. 55 Active
    Dittofeed

    Open-source customer engagement. Automate transactional and marketing messages across email, SMS, mobile push, WhatsApp, Slack, and more

    MIT
    Setup
    5 of 5
    Stars
    3k
    Release
    1 December 2025
  30. 48 Active
    StackStorm

    StackStorm (aka "IFTTT for Ops") is event-driven automation for auto-remediation, incident responses, troubleshooting, deployments, and more for DevOps and SREs.…

    Apache-2.0
    Setup
    From source
    Stars
    6.6k
    Release
    12 January 2026
  31. 22 Slowing
    µTask

    µTask is an automation engine that models and executes business processes declared in yaml.

    BSD-3-Clause
    Setup
    2 of 5
    Stars
    1.4k
    Release
    18 March 2026
  32. 6 Slowing
    Automa

    A browser extension for automating your browser by connecting blocks

    AGPL-3.0 paid features in repo
    Setup
    From source
    Stars
    21.7k
    Release
    11 August 2025
  33. 6 Slowing
    Automatisch

    The open source Zapier alternative. Build workflow automation without spending time and money.

    AGPL-3.0 paid features in repoCLA
    Setup
    3 of 5
    Stars
    14k
    Release
    8 August 2025

Our picks by use case

  • Visual automations for business teams

    n8n and Activepieces connect SaaS apps in a drag-and-drop editor, with AI steps and code when you need them. n8n is fair-code under its Sustainable Use License, while Activepieces keeps its core under MIT.

    • n8nSustainable Use Licensefair-codehealth 84
    • ActivepiecesMITpaid features in repohealth 81

  • AI agents and LLM apps

    Dify and Langflow build chatbots, RAG pipelines and agents on a visual canvas. Langflow is MIT-licensed; Dify adds its own conditions to Apache 2.0.

    • DifyApache-2.0 with additional conditionssource-availablehealth 84
    • LangflowMIThealth 85

  • Data pipelines on a schedule

    Apache Airflow, Dagster, Prefect and Kestra orchestrate ETL, analytics and machine-learning jobs. The first three define pipelines in Python; Kestra describes them in YAML.

  • Durable workflows in application code

    Temporal, Conductor, Hatchet and Trigger.dev keep long-running processes alive through crashes, retries and waits for people or events.

  • Pipelines on Kubernetes

    Argo Workflows runs every step as a container on your cluster, which suits machine-learning and batch jobs that scale out.

  • Scripts, cron jobs and internal tools

    Windmill turns scripts into jobs, flows and small apps; Dagu runs YAML-defined graphs of shell commands from a single binary; Cronicle schedules jobs across several servers.

  • Devices and home automation

    Node-RED wires sensors, MQTT and web APIs together in a browser-based flow editor and runs comfortably on a Raspberry Pi.

  • Watching the web

    changedetection.io alerts you when a page changes, and Huginn runs agents that monitor sites and act on what they find.

How to choose a workflow automation tool

Workflow automation covers several kinds of tools that are easy to confuse. Visual builders connect SaaS apps without code, orchestrators schedule data pipelines, durable execution engines keep long-running application code going through failures, and lighter schedulers replace cron. Open-source options exist for each kind, but their licenses differ more than their feature lists: several of the best-known tools are fair-code or source-available, and many keep paid features in the same repository.

Who will build the workflows

If operations or marketing staff will build automations, pick a visual editor with ready integrations, such as n8n, Activepieces or Node-RED. If developers own them, code-first tools let you review, test and version workflows like any other code: Windmill for scripts, Temporal for application logic, Dagster or Prefect for data.

What the workflows do

Connecting apps, moving data and running business processes are different jobs. App integrations need many connectors and webhooks; data pipelines need scheduling, backfills and lineage; processes that wait days for a payment or an approval need durable state. A tool that excels at one job is often awkward at the others, so name the main job before you compare features.

License and paid features

Check the license line on each card. n8n uses the Sustainable Use License, Inngest the Server Side Public License, and Dify a modified Apache 2.0 license, so none of the three is OSI open source. Activepieces, Windmill and Budibase keep enterprise features under separate terms. The "Fully open source only" filter leaves the projects with neither.

Weight of self-hosting

Setup effort on each card is rated from the project's compose file. Dagu and changedetection.io run as a single service, while Temporal and Trigger.dev need a database and several more services. Budget time for upgrades and backups, not only for the first install.

Signs of life

A workflow tool may run critical jobs for years, so look at the health score before you commit. Most tools in this list are developed actively, but Automa, Automatisch and µTask had no commits in the last three months, and their pages suggest alternatives.

Drafted with AI from the projects’ READMEs and our data, then checked against that data on 30 October 2026. Report a correction

Which of these are really open source?

Fully open source (24)OSI-approved license, no paid parts in the repository
Langflow, Huginn, Apache Airflow, changedetection.io, Conductor, Kestra, Temporal, Prefect, Node-RED, Argo Workflows, Trigger.dev, Dagster, Apache DolphinScheduler, Hatchet, Elsa Workflows, StackStorm, Apache NiFi, Cronicle, Dagu, OliveTin, Dittofeed, µTask, Cronmaster, GoCron
Open source with paid parts (5)OSI license, but some features are under commercial terms
Budibase, Activepieces, Automa, Windmill, Automatisch
Not OSI open source (4)Code is public, use is restricted
n8n (Sustainable Use License), Dify (Apache-2.0 with additional conditions), Typebot (Functional Source License), Inngest (Server Side Public License)
License changesNewest first
Typebot: AGPL-3.0 → Functional Source License, 2024; n8n: Apache-2.0 + Commons Clause → Sustainable Use License, 2022; Prefect: Prefect Community License → Apache-2.0, 2022; Elsa Workflows: BSD → MIT, 2021

Read automatically from each repository’s license files every day. How we read licenses

Questions about open-source workflow automation

What are the most popular open-source workflow automation projects?

By GitHub stars: n8n (209k), Dify (160k), Langflow (156k). By our health score, the most actively maintained are changedetection.io (88), Apache Airflow (87), Argo Workflows (86).

Which workflow automation projects are fully open source?

24 of the 33 use an OSI-approved license with no paid parts in the repository, including Langflow, Huginn, Apache Airflow.

Which are the easiest to self-host?

Judged by the services in their compose files, changedetection.io, Kestra, Prefect, Dagu need the least setup.

Which projects have changed their license?

n8n (to Sustainable Use License in 2022), Prefect (to Apache-2.0 in 2022), Typebot (to Functional Source License in 2024), Elsa Workflows (to MIT in 2021). Each project page links to the commit that made the change.

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