Conductor OSS vs Luigi
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted automation & workflows options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Conductor OSS | Luigi |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 98 · Excellent | 90 · Excellent |
| Category | Automation & Workflows | Automation & Workflows |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Java | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 2,048 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, kubernetes, bare-metal | bare-metal, binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 32,227 | ★ 18,777 |
| First released | 2016 | 2012 |
| Replaces | AWS Step Functions, Camunda | AWS Step Functions |
What are Conductor OSS and Luigi?
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
Luigi
Luigi is a Python package that helps build complex pipelines of batch jobs. It handles dependency resolution, workflow management, visualization and failure handling for long-running data tasks.
- Dependency-driven batch pipelines
- Central scheduler with web UI
- Built-in support for Hadoop and databases
- Simple Python task model
Conductor OSS vs Luigi: key differences
Conductor OSS is written in Java, while Luigi is built with Python. Luigi is the lighter option, starting around 256 MB of RAM against 2,048 MB for Conductor OSS. Luigi is the more established project (first released 2012), while Conductor OSS arrived in 2016. Conductor OSS lists first-class Docker deployment; Luigi does not.
Why pick each one
Choose Conductor OSS if…
- Battle-tested at scale
- Language-agnostic workers
Watch out for
- Java stack is resource heavy
Choose Luigi if…
- Lightweight and easy to start
- Created and used by Spotify
Watch out for
- Less actively developed than newer tools
Frequently asked questions
Is Conductor OSS or Luigi better?
Neither is universally better. Conductor OSS has the larger community, while Luigi is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Conductor OSS and Luigi free and open-source?
Yes. Conductor OSS is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Luigi under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Conductor OSS and Luigi with Docker?
Conductor OSS: yes. Luigi: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, Conductor OSS or Luigi?
Luigi has the smaller minimum footprint at 256 MB of RAM, compared to about 2,048 MB for Conductor OSS. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.