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Apache DolphinScheduler vs Conductor OSS

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?
AP Apache DolphinScheduler Distributed visual workflow scheduling platform VS CO Conductor OSS Microservices and workflow orchestration engine
FeatureApache DolphinSchedulerConductor OSS
Deploy effortUnder-an-hour setupUnder-an-hour setup
Health score94 · Excellent98 · Excellent
CategoryAutomation & WorkflowsAutomation & Workflows
LicenseApache-2.0Apache-2.0
LanguageJavaJava
Setup difficultyHardHard
Min. RAM2,048 MB2,048 MB
Deploymentdocker, kubernetes, bare-metaldocker, kubernetes, bare-metal
GitHub stars★ 14,499★ 32,227
First released20192016
ReplacesAWS Step Functions, Azure Data FactoryAWS Step Functions, Camunda

What are Apache DolphinScheduler and Conductor OSS?

Apache DolphinScheduler

Apache DolphinScheduler is a distributed, extensible workflow scheduler with a visual drag-and-drop interface. It is designed for big data and ETL job orchestration with high reliability.

  • Visual DAG workflow designer
  • Distributed and decentralized scheduling
  • Multi-tenant support
  • Rich task type plugins

Read the full Apache DolphinScheduler guide →

Conductor OSS

Conductor is a platform created to orchestrate microservices and business processes at scale. It lets teams define workflows as JSON and run them across distributed task workers.

  • JSON-defined workflows
  • Distributed task workers
  • Visual workflow editor
  • Built for microservice orchestration

Read the full Conductor OSS guide →

Apache DolphinScheduler vs Conductor OSS: key differences

Both projects are written in Java. Conductor OSS is the more established project (first released 2016), while Apache DolphinScheduler arrived in 2019. Conductor OSS has the considerably larger community, at 32,227 GitHub stars versus 14,499.

Why pick each one

Choose Apache DolphinScheduler if…

  • Friendly visual interface
  • Scales horizontally

Watch out for

  • Heavy Java-based stack
Apache DolphinScheduler details

Choose Conductor OSS if…

  • Battle-tested at scale
  • Language-agnostic workers

Watch out for

  • Java stack is resource heavy
Conductor OSS details

Frequently asked questions

Is Apache DolphinScheduler or Conductor OSS better?

Neither is universally better. Conductor OSS has the larger community; both share a hard setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.

Are Apache DolphinScheduler and Conductor OSS free and open-source?

Yes. Apache DolphinScheduler is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Conductor OSS under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Apache DolphinScheduler and Conductor OSS with Docker?

Apache DolphinScheduler: yes. Conductor OSS: yes.

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