Apache Airflow vs Supercronic
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
Supercronic
Crontab-compatible job runner built for containers
| Feature | Apache Airflow | Supercronic |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Automation & Workflows | Automation & Workflows |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Language | Python | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 4,096 MB | 32 MB |
| Deployment | docker, kubernetes, helm | docker, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 46,409 | ★ 2,596 |
| First released | 2015 | 2017 |
| Replaces | AWS Step Functions, Azure Data Factory | cron |
Why pick each one
Choose Supercronic if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (2.6k GitHub stars)
Frequently asked questions
Is Apache Airflow or Supercronic better?
Neither is universally better. Apache Airflow has the larger community, while Supercronic is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Apache Airflow and Supercronic free and open-source?
Yes. Apache Airflow is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Supercronic under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Apache Airflow and Supercronic with Docker?
Apache Airflow: yes. Supercronic: yes.