Gocron vs Ofelia
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted automation & workflows options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Gocron | Ofelia |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 22 · At risk | 86 · Excellent |
| Category | Automation & Workflows | Automation & Workflows |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Language | Go | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 32 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary | docker, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 6,264 | ★ 3,996 |
| First released | 2017 | 2016 |
| Replaces | cron, Rundeck | cron |
What are Gocron and Ofelia?
Gocron
Gocron is an open-source, lightweight task scheduling system with a web interface for managing shell and HTTP jobs across hosts. It is self-hosted to schedule, run, and monitor recurring tasks.
- Web-based job management
- Shell and HTTP tasks
- Distributed task nodes
- Execution logs and alerts
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
Gocron vs Ofelia: key differences
Both projects are written in Go. Ofelia is the lighter option, starting around 32 MB of RAM against 128 MB for Gocron.
Why pick each one
Choose Gocron if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 6.3k GitHub stars
Frequently asked questions
Is Gocron or Ofelia better?
Neither is universally better. Gocron has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Gocron and Ofelia free and open-source?
Yes. Gocron is licensed under MIT and Ofelia under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Gocron and Ofelia with Docker?
Gocron: yes. Ofelia: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Gocron or Ofelia?
Ofelia has the smaller minimum footprint at 32 MB of RAM, compared to about 128 MB for Gocron. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.