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Automation Integration · head to head

Activiti vs Conductor

Activiti logo

Activiti

Automation Integration

Apache 2.0 BPMN engine under Hyland, from which Flowable and Camunda were forked

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Conductor logo

Conductor

SEO

The enterprise platform for AI & search visibility

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Activiti has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Activiti the last stable release was 8.2.0 in January 2024, and while release candidate builds continue, a two-year gap between stable versions is a real risk signal for a production dependency.; Conductor no published dollar amounts for any pricing tier; requires contacting sales or requesting demo to learn costs
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Activiti and Conductor actually diverge.

Attributes where Activiti and Conductor differ
AttributeActivitiConductor
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelOpen source, no licence feeusage-based
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsLinux, Windows, Docker, KubernetesWeb
CategoryAutomation IntegrationSEO

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Activiti

  • BPMN 2.0 engine
  • Activiti Cloud
  • Modeler
  • Java and REST APIs
  • Pluggable persistence
  • Identity integration

Only in Conductor

Nothing recorded that Activiti does not also cover.

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Activiti

  • An Alfresco or Hyland content services deployment where Activiti is already the embedded workflow enginenot Conductor
  • A Java application that needs to embed a BPMN engine as a library under a permissive licencenot Conductor
  • An organisation that has ruled out Camunda 8 on licence grounds and needs an Apache 2.0 alternativenot Conductor
  • Document-centric approval workflows where the process engine sits inside the content management stack rather than beside itnot Conductor

Conductor

  • Tracking visibility across ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemininot Activiti
  • Generating SEO-optimized content at scale with AInot Activiti
  • Unifying traditional search and AI answer engine strategiesnot Activiti
  • Monitoring competitor positioning in emerging search platformsnot Activiti

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Activiti

  • The last stable release was 8.2.0 in January 2024, and while release candidate builds continue, a two-year gap between stable versions is a real risk signal for a production dependency.
  • Both Camunda and Flowable forked away and took large parts of the contributor base with them, so the community, tutorials and third-party tooling around Activiti are much thinner than around either fork.
  • Commercial support is only realistically available by buying Hyland Alfresco subscriptions, so there is no way to pay for Activiti support on its own.
  • Activiti Cloud imposes a distributed architecture of several Spring Boot services plus Keycloak, which is heavy for teams who simply wanted an embeddable engine.
  • Documentation is dated and partly split between old Alfresco sites and Hyland Connect, and the transition between Activiti 6, 7 and 8 architectures makes much of the older material actively misleading.

Conductor

  • No published dollar amounts for any pricing tier; requires contacting sales or requesting demo to learn costs
  • Essentials tier limits AI content generation to only 60 drafts per year and covers just 1,000 pages of analysis
  • Free trial available but pricing model remains opaque until direct sales engagement

Pricing, plan by plan

Activiti

Free
  • ActivitiFree
    • Apache 2.0 licence
    • Embeddable Java library or Activiti Cloud services
    • No usage limits

Conductor

On request

No published plan breakdown. See the Conductor review.

Which should you pick?

Choose Activiti if

  • You need bpmn 2.0 engine.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Windows, Docker, Kubernetes.
  • You also want activiti cloud.
Activiti review

Choose Conductor if

Nothing in the data separates Conductor from Activiti on the points above - pick on price and on how each one feels to use.

Conductor review

Questions people ask

Is Activiti or Conductor better?
Neither clearly leads. Activiti starts at Free and Conductor at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Activiti or Conductor?
Activiti has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Activiti and On request for Conductor.
Does Activiti or Conductor run on more platforms?
Activiti runs on Linux, Windows, Docker, Kubernetes. Conductor runs on Web.
Can I use Activiti for free?
Yes. Activiti has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Conductor starts at On request.
What is Activiti best used for?
Activiti is most often used for an alfresco or hyland content services deployment where activiti is already the embedded workflow engine, a java application that needs to embed a bpmn engine as a library under a permissive licence, an organisation that has ruled out camunda 8 on licence grounds and needs an apache 2.0 alternative, document-centric approval workflows where the process engine sits inside the content management stack rather than beside it. Of those, an alfresco or hyland content services deployment where activiti is already the embedded workflow engine and a java application that needs to embed a bpmn engine as a library under a permissive licence are not what Conductor is typically brought in for.
What can Activiti do that Conductor cannot?
Activiti covers BPMN 2.0 engine, Activiti Cloud, Modeler, Java and REST APIs.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Activiti: Is Activiti still maintained?

Yes, Hyland continues to publish builds, but the last stable release was 8.2.0 in January 2024.

Conductor: How much does Conductor cost?

Conductor does not publish specific pricing. The platform offers Essentials, Growth, and Enterprise tiers based on usage limits (AI drafts, pages analyzed, keywords tracked, competitors monitored, and websites), but dollar amounts are available only through contacting sales or requesting a demo.

Source
Activiti: What is its relationship to Camunda and Flowable?

Both are forks of Activiti: Camunda in 2013 and Flowable in 2016, when core developers left Alfresco.

Conductor: What is Conductor's pricing model?

Conductor uses a usage-based model where you pay based on actual capabilities needed. Plans are defined by limits on AI writing drafts, pages analyzed per year, tracked keywords, competitor tracking, and number of monitored websites rather than per-seat pricing.

Source
Activiti: What licence is it?

Apache 2.0, which distinguishes it from Camunda 8’s source-available licence.

Conductor: Can I try Conductor before buying?

Yes, Conductor offers a free trial for the Essentials tier. Growth and Enterprise tiers require requesting a demo to see pricing and capabilities.

Source
Activiti: Should I choose Activiti for a new project?

Only if the Apache licence or an existing Alfresco deployment is decisive. Flowable and Camunda have far larger ecosystems.

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