Apache Airflow vs Leek
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted automation & workflows options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
Apache Airflow
Programmatically author, schedule and monitor workflows
VS
Leek
Monitoring and issue detection for Celery task queues
| Feature | Apache Airflow | Leek |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Automation & Workflows | Automation & Workflows |
| License | Apache-2.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | Python | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 4,096 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, kubernetes, helm | docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 46,409 | ★ 205 |
| First released | 2015 | 2020 |
| Replaces | AWS Step Functions, Azure Data Factory | Flower |
Why pick each one
Choose Leek if…
- Released under the GPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in TypeScript
- Lightweight — runs in 512 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Apache Airflow or Leek better?
Neither is universally better. Apache Airflow has the larger community, while Leek is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Apache Airflow and Leek free and open-source?
Yes. Apache Airflow is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Leek under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Apache Airflow and Leek with Docker?
Apache Airflow: yes. Leek: yes.