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Camunda Platform 7 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?
CA Camunda Platform 7 Archived BPMN-based workflow and decision automation engine VS TE Temporal Durable execution platform for reliable distributed workflows
FeatureCamunda Platform 7Temporal
Deploy effortUnder-an-hour setupUnder-an-hour setup
Health score15 · At risk97 · Excellent
StatusArchivedActively maintained
CategoryAutomation & WorkflowsAutomation & Workflows
LicenseApache-2.0MIT
LanguageJavaGo
Setup difficultyHardHard
Min. RAM1,024 MB2,048 MB
Deploymentdocker, kubernetes, bare-metaldocker, kubernetes, helm
GitHub stars★ 4,269★ 23,263
First released20132019
ReplacesMicrosoft Power Automate, AWS Step FunctionsAWS Step Functions, Azure Logic Apps

What are Camunda Platform 7 and Temporal?

Camunda Platform 7

Camunda Platform 7 is an open-source workflow and decision automation engine based on the BPMN and DMN standards. It executes process models and integrates with Java applications and microservices.

  • Standards-based BPMN execution
  • DMN decision tables
  • Visual process modeler
  • REST API and Java integration

Temporal

Temporal is an open-source platform for building durable, reliable workflows in code. It guarantees that long-running business processes survive failures, restarts and infrastructure changes.

  • Durable execution guarantees
  • Workflows written in general-purpose code
  • Automatic retries and state persistence
  • SDKs for many languages

Read the full Temporal guide →

Camunda Platform 7 vs Temporal: key differences

The biggest difference is maintenance: Camunda Platform 7's repository is archived and no longer developed, while Temporal is actively maintained. Camunda Platform 7 is written in Java, while Temporal is built with Go. Licensing differs — Apache-2.0 for Camunda Platform 7 versus MIT for Temporal. Camunda Platform 7 is the lighter option, starting around 1,024 MB of RAM against 2,048 MB for Temporal. Camunda Platform 7 is the more established project (first released 2013), while Temporal arrived in 2019. Temporal has the considerably larger community, at 23,263 GitHub stars versus 4,269.

Why pick each one

Choose Camunda Platform 7 if…

  • Strong BPMN standards support
  • Mature ecosystem

Watch out for

  • Newer Camunda 8 is not fully open source
Camunda Platform 7 details

Choose Temporal if…

  • Extremely reliable for long workflows
  • Strong multi-language support

Watch out for

  • Operationally complex to self-host
Temporal details

Frequently asked questions

Is Camunda Platform 7 or Temporal better?

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

Are Camunda Platform 7 and Temporal free and open-source?

Yes. Camunda Platform 7 is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Temporal under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Camunda Platform 7 and Temporal with Docker?

Camunda Platform 7: yes. Temporal: yes.

Which is lighter on resources, Camunda Platform 7 or Temporal?

Camunda Platform 7 has the smaller minimum footprint at 1,024 MB of RAM, compared to about 2,048 MB for Temporal. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.

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