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Automation Integration · head to head

Activiti vs Inngest

Activiti logo

Activiti

Automation Integration

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

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Inngest logo

Inngest

Automation Integration

Unbreakable Agents. Invisible Infra.

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • 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.; Inngest hobby plans pause execution once free quota exhausted; upgrade required to continue
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Activiti and Inngest actually diverge.

Attributes where Activiti and Inngest differ
AttributeActivitiInngest
Pricing modelOpen source, no licence feefreemium
PlatformsLinux, Windows, Docker, KubernetesWeb

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Automation Integration).

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 Inngest

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 Inngest
  • A Java application that needs to embed a BPMN engine as a library under a permissive licencenot Inngest
  • An organisation that has ruled out Camunda 8 on licence grounds and needs an Apache 2.0 alternativenot Inngest
  • Document-centric approval workflows where the process engine sits inside the content management stack rather than beside itnot Inngest

Inngest

  • Handling unpredictable LLM behavior with fine-grained error controlnot Activiti
  • Retrying failed workflow steps independently without restartingnot Activiti
  • Rate limiting per-tenant usage on shared infrastructurenot Activiti
  • Processing thousands of webhooks per event with replay capabilitynot Activiti
  • Persisting state across serverless function invocationsnot 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.

Inngest

  • Hobby plans pause execution once free quota exhausted; upgrade required to continue
  • Pro plan overages carry tiered metering: additional concurrent steps at $25 per 25, span data at $3/GB, scores at $1.50 per 1K, events at $0.50 per 1M

Pricing, plan by plan

Activiti

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

Inngest

Free
  • HobbyFree
    • 50k executions/month
    • 5 concurrent steps
    • 500 MB span data
  • Pro$99/month starting
    • 1M executions included, pay-as-you-go up to 20M
    • 100+ concurrent steps
    • 5 GB span data ingested
  • Enterprise$null/custom
    • customizable metrics
    • 90-day trace retention
    • SAML, RBAC, audit trails

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 Inngest if

  • You want to start without paying.
Inngest review

Questions people ask

Is Activiti or Inngest better?
Neither clearly leads. Activiti starts at Free and Inngest at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Activiti or Inngest?
Activiti starts at Free and Inngest at Free.
Does Activiti or Inngest run on more platforms?
Activiti runs on Linux, Windows, Docker, Kubernetes. Inngest runs on Web.
Can I use Activiti for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
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 Inngest is typically brought in for.
What can Activiti do that Inngest 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.

Inngest: How much does Inngest cost?

Inngest offers a free Hobby plan with 50k executions per month and up to 3 users. Pro plans start at $99 per month with 1M executions included and support for up to 15 users. Additional Pro users cost $10 each. Enterprise plans require custom pricing.

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.

Inngest: Is there a free version of Inngest?

Yes, the Hobby plan is completely free and includes 50k executions per month, 5 concurrent steps, 500 MB span data ingested, 10K scores, 500k events ingested, and support for up to 3 users. Plan changes pause execution once the free quota is exhausted.

Source
Activiti: What licence is it?

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

Inngest: What are the overage costs on Inngest Pro?

Inngest Pro includes 1M executions with additional executions at $0.50 per 1M up to 20M. Span data overages cost $3 per GB, scores at $1.50 per 1K, and events at $0.50 per 1M. Additional concurrent steps cost $25 per 25 steps beyond the included 100+.

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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