Temporal 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?
Temporal
Durable execution platform for reliable distributed workflows
VS
Windmill
Developer platform for scripts, flows and apps
| Feature | Temporal | Windmill |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Automation & Workflows | Automation & Workflows |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Go | Rust |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 2,048 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | docker, kubernetes, helm | docker, kubernetes |
| GitHub stars | ★ 22,173 | ★ 17,474 |
| First released | 2019 | 2022 |
| Replaces | AWS Step Functions, Azure Logic Apps | Zapier, Retool |
Why pick each one
Choose Temporal if…
- Extremely reliable for long workflows
- Strong multi-language support
Choose Windmill if…
- Great for developer automation
- Fast and scalable
- Code-first approach
Frequently asked questions
Is Temporal or Windmill better?
Neither is universally better. Temporal 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 Temporal and Windmill free and open-source?
Yes. Temporal is licensed under MIT and Windmill under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Temporal and Windmill with Docker?
Temporal: yes. Windmill: yes.