Budibase vs Windmill
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted automation & workflows options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Budibase
Low-code platform to build internal tools and automations
VS
Windmill
Developer platform for scripts, flows and apps
| Feature | Budibase | Windmill |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 97 · Excellent | 95 · Excellent |
| Category | Automation & Workflows | Automation & Workflows |
| License | GPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | TypeScript | Rust |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 2,048 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | docker, kubernetes, helm | docker, kubernetes |
| GitHub stars | ★ 28,300 | ★ 18,022 |
| First released | 2019 | 2022 |
| Replaces | Microsoft Power Apps, Retool, Airtable | Zapier, Retool |
What are Budibase and Windmill?
Budibase
Budibase is an open-source low-code platform for building internal tools, apps and workflow automations. It connects to databases and APIs and includes an automation engine triggered by events.
- Drag-and-drop app builder
- Built-in automation engine
- Many data source connectors
- Self-hostable with Docker
Windmill
Windmill is a developer platform that turns scripts into workflows, APIs, and internal apps with scheduling and approvals. It targets engineers automating internal tooling. It is deployed via Docker with PostgreSQL.
- Scripts in Python, TypeScript and more
- Auto-generated UIs for scripts
- Flows with branching and retries
- Fast Rust execution engine
Budibase vs Windmill: key differences
Budibase is written in TypeScript, while Windmill is built with Rust. Licensing differs — GPL-3.0 for Budibase versus AGPL-3.0 for Windmill. Windmill is the lighter option, starting around 1,024 MB of RAM against 2,048 MB for Budibase. Budibase is the more established project (first released 2019), while Windmill arrived in 2022.
Why pick each one
Choose Budibase if…
- Fast internal tool building
- Good automation features
Watch out for
- Resource heavy multi-service stack
Choose Windmill if…
- Great for developer automation
- Fast and scalable
- Code-first approach
Watch out for
- More technical than no-code tools
- Requires Postgres
Frequently asked questions
Is Budibase or Windmill better?
Neither is universally better. Budibase has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Budibase and Windmill free and open-source?
Yes. Budibase is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Windmill under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Budibase and Windmill with Docker?
Budibase: yes. Windmill: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Budibase or Windmill?
Windmill has the smaller minimum footprint at 1,024 MB of RAM, compared to about 2,048 MB for Budibase. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.