Conductor OSS vs Mercure
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?
Conductor OSS
Microservices and workflow orchestration engine
VS
Mercure
Real-time updates protocol and server-sent events hub
| Feature | Conductor OSS | Mercure |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Automation & Workflows | Automation & Workflows |
| License | Apache-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Java | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 2,048 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker, kubernetes, bare-metal | docker, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 32,066 | ★ 5,297 |
| First released | 2016 | 2019 |
| Replaces | AWS Step Functions, Camunda | Pusher |
Why pick each one
Choose Mercure if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 5.3k GitHub stars
- Written in Go
Frequently asked questions
Is Conductor OSS or Mercure better?
Neither is universally better. Conductor OSS has the larger community, while Mercure is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Conductor OSS and Mercure free and open-source?
Yes. Conductor OSS is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Mercure under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Conductor OSS and Mercure with Docker?
Conductor OSS: yes. Mercure: yes.