Conductor OSS vs Windmill
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
Windmill
Developer platform for scripts, flows and apps
| Feature | Conductor OSS | Windmill |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Automation & Workflows | Automation & Workflows |
| License | Apache-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Java | Rust |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 2,048 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | docker, kubernetes, bare-metal | docker, kubernetes |
| GitHub stars | ★ 32,066 | ★ 17,474 |
| First released | 2016 | 2022 |
| Replaces | AWS Step Functions, Camunda | Zapier, Retool |
Why pick each one
Choose Windmill if…
- Great for developer automation
- Fast and scalable
- Code-first approach
Frequently asked questions
Is Conductor OSS or Windmill better?
Neither is universally better. Conductor OSS has the larger community, while Windmill is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Conductor OSS and Windmill free and open-source?
Yes. Conductor OSS is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Windmill under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Conductor OSS and Windmill with Docker?
Conductor OSS: yes. Windmill: yes.