Automa vs Temporal
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?
Automa
Browser automation via drag-and-drop visual workflows
VS
Temporal
Durable execution platform for reliable distributed workflows
| Feature | Automa | Temporal |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Automation & Workflows | Automation & Workflows |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Language | Vue | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 2,048 MB |
| Deployment | source | docker, kubernetes, helm |
| GitHub stars | ★ 21,543 | ★ 22,173 |
| First released | 2021 | 2019 |
| Replaces | Zapier, UiPath | AWS Step Functions, Azure Logic Apps |
Why pick each one
Choose Automa if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Mature project with 21.5k GitHub stars
- Written in Vue
Choose Temporal if…
- Extremely reliable for long workflows
- Strong multi-language support
Frequently asked questions
Is Automa or Temporal better?
Neither is universally better. Temporal has the larger community, while Automa is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Automa and Temporal free and open-source?
Yes. Automa is licensed under MIT and Temporal under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Automa and Temporal with Docker?
Automa: check the project docs for container support. Temporal: yes.