Firecrawl vs Kestra
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?
Firecrawl
Turn websites into clean data for AI applications
VS
Kestra
Declarative orchestration and scheduling platform
| Feature | Firecrawl | Kestra |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Automation & Workflows | Automation & Workflows |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | TypeScript | Java |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 2,048 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | docker, source | docker, kubernetes |
| GitHub stars | ★ 162,961 | ★ 27,575 |
| First released | 2024 | 2021 |
| Replaces | Apify | Zapier, Make |
Why pick each one
Choose Firecrawl if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 163k GitHub stars
- Written in TypeScript
Choose Kestra if…
- Strong for data orchestration
- Scalable architecture
- Open-source license
Frequently asked questions
Is Firecrawl or Kestra better?
Firecrawl is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler medium setup. Consider Kestra if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Firecrawl and Kestra free and open-source?
Yes. Firecrawl is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Kestra under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Firecrawl and Kestra with Docker?
Firecrawl: yes. Kestra: yes.