SHSelfHostIndex

Chadburn vs Ofelia

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?
CH Chadburn Job scheduler for Docker environments using container labels VS OF Ofelia A docker-friendly job scheduler written in Go
FeatureChadburnOfelia
Deploy effortUnder-an-hour setupUnder-an-hour setup
Health score57 · Fair86 · Excellent
CategoryAutomation & WorkflowsAutomation & Workflows
LicenseMITMIT
LanguageGoGo
Setup difficultyEasyEasy
Min. RAM32 MB32 MB
Deploymentdocker, binarydocker, binary
GitHub stars★ 78★ 3,996
First released20212016
Replacescroncron

What are Chadburn and Ofelia?

Chadburn

Chadburn is a job scheduler inspired by Ofelia that runs scheduled tasks defined as Docker labels or in an INI file, designed for container environments. It is self-hosted as a single lightweight binary.

  • Docker-label job scheduling
  • INI file config
  • Container-native
  • Lightweight binary

Ofelia

Ofelia is a modern, lightweight job scheduler for Docker environments, intended as a replacement for cron. It can run jobs inside containers, in new containers or on the host on a schedule.

  • Cron replacement for Docker
  • Run jobs in existing or new containers
  • Configuration via labels or INI
  • Slack and email notifications

Read the full Ofelia guide →

Chadburn vs Ofelia: key differences

Both projects are written in Go. Ofelia is the more established project (first released 2016), while Chadburn arrived in 2021. Ofelia has the considerably larger community, at 3,996 GitHub stars versus 78.

Why pick each one

Choose Chadburn if…

  • Released under the MIT license
  • Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
  • First-class Docker support for quick deployment
  • Written in Go
Chadburn details

Choose Ofelia if…

  • Very lightweight
  • Docker-native scheduling

Watch out for

  • No web UI
Ofelia details

Frequently asked questions

Is Chadburn or Ofelia better?

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

Are Chadburn and Ofelia free and open-source?

Yes. Chadburn is licensed under MIT and Ofelia under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Chadburn and Ofelia with Docker?

Chadburn: yes. Ofelia: yes.

Related comparisons