Kestra
Windmill
| Feature | Kestra | Windmill |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free / from $100/mo | Free / from $10/mo |
| Free Plan | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Rating | 4.4 / 5 | 4.4 / 5 |
| Best For | data-engineers, devops-teams, backend-developers, workflow-automation | developers, devops-teams, internal-tools, data-pipelines |
| Founded | 2020 | 2022 |
| Workflow Orchestration | ✓ | ✗ |
| Scheduling | ✓ | ✓ |
| Event Triggers | ✓ | ✗ |
| Plugins | ✓ | ✗ |
| Monitoring | ✓ | ✗ |
| Secret Management | ✓ | ✗ |
| Multi Tenant | ✓ | ✗ |
| Workflow Editor | ✗ | ✓ |
| Script To Ui | ✗ | ✓ |
| Approval Flows | ✗ | ✓ |
| Multi Language | ✗ | ✓ |
| Self Hostable | ✗ | ✓ |
| Audit Logs | ✗ | ✓ |
✓ Kestra Pros
- Open-source with full orchestration capabilities
- Declarative YAML workflows (GitOps friendly)
- 500+ plugins for data, cloud, and messaging services
- Real-time triggers, schedules, and event listeners
✗ Kestra Cons
- Less visual builder than no-code tools
- Learning curve for YAML workflow syntax
- Newer platform with smaller community than Airflow
✓ Windmill Pros
- Open-source and self-hostable
- Supports Python, TypeScript, Go, Bash, SQL natively
- Auto-generates UI from script parameters
- Excellent scheduling and workflow orchestration
✗ Windmill Cons
- Smaller community than Zapier/n8n
- Self-hosting requires infrastructure knowledge
- Less polished documentation for beginners
The Verdict
Kestra is built for data engineers and devops teams, with a focus on workflow-orchestration and scheduling. Windmill targets developers and devops teams and leads with workflow-editor and script-to-ui.
On pricing, Windmill is the clear winner for budget-conscious users — starting at $10/mo compared to $100/mo for Kestra. That $90/mo difference adds up quickly for growing teams.
Both offer free plans, so you can test each with your real workflow before committing to a subscription.
Both tools are a solid fit for devops teams — in those cases, the decision often comes down to workflow style and how your team prefers to organize work.
This is a genuinely close comparison. If you can, sign up for both free trials (where available) and run a one-week test with your actual team tasks before deciding.