Automation Integration · head to head
Camunda vs Kogito
Camunda
Automation Integration
BPMN process orchestration engine, now source-available rather than open source
- From
- On request
- Rated
- -
Kogito
Automation Integration
Cloud-native business automation for Quarkus, now an Apache KIE component
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Only Kogito has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
- Each has a real cost: Camunda camunda 7 Community Edition stopped receiving security patches after the 7.24 release in October 2025, so free production deployments are now running unpatched software.; Kogito kogito is a developer framework, not a product, so there is no equivalent of Camunda Operate for business users and any process monitoring interface has to be built or bought separately.
- They diverge on capability: Camunda covers BPMN 2.0 execution, Kogito covers Build-time code generation.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Camunda and Kogito actually diverge.
Identical on both: 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 Camunda
- BPMN 2.0 execution
- DMN decision tables
- Zeebe engine
- Operate console
- Job workers
- Optimize
Only in Kogito
- Build-time code generation
- Quarkus and Spring Boot support
- DMN decision services
- Drools rules engine
- Serverless workflow
- Kubernetes operator
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Camunda
- Long-running business processes crossing several services where the state must be visible to non-developersnot Kogito
- Insurance claims or loan origination where the process model is itself a compliance artefactnot Kogito
- Replacing orchestration logic scattered across microservices with one engine that owns the state machinenot Kogito
- A regulated organisation that needs an auditable record of how each process instance actually executednot Kogito
Kogito
- A Quarkus microservice that must expose a DMN decision model as a REST endpoint with millisecond start-upnot Camunda
- Serverless deployment of business rules where a traditional BPM server would be far too heavynot Camunda
- A Red Hat shop that wants the upstream of Red Hat process automation with the option of a supported build laternot Camunda
- Replacing hand-coded conditional logic with DMN tables that business analysts can review and amendnot Camunda
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Camunda
- Camunda 7 Community Edition stopped receiving security patches after the 7.24 release in October 2025, so free production deployments are now running unpatched software.
- Camunda 8 Self-Managed is source-available under the Camunda License 1.0, not open source: production use requires a paid licence, and organisations that adopted Camunda for its Apache licence have to renegotiate that decision.
- Migrating from Camunda 7 to 8 is a rewrite rather than an upgrade because the engine, the API and the persistence model all changed, and there is no in-place migration for running instances.
- Camunda 8 Self-Managed has substantial infrastructure requirements including Zeebe brokers, Elasticsearch and Identity, which is a considerable operations burden compared with the single database that Camunda 7 needed.
- Pricing is not published at all, so evaluating total cost requires a sales process, and there is no way to size a budget before committing engineering time to a proof of concept.
Kogito
- Kogito is a developer framework, not a product, so there is no equivalent of Camunda Operate for business users and any process monitoring interface has to be built or bought separately.
- Long-running stateful processes need external persistence and messaging that you configure and operate yourself, which removes much of the convenience a BPM server normally provides.
- It sits inside the Apache KIE incubator, and incubating status means graduation is not guaranteed and the project name and artefact coordinates have already changed once.
- Red Hat is by far the dominant contributor despite ASF stewardship, so the roadmap follows Red Hat product priorities rather than community demand.
- Documentation is spread across legacy JBoss sites, the old Kogito site and the new Apache KIE site, and search results routinely land on outdated versions, which costs real time during adoption.
Pricing, plan by plan
Camunda
On request- Camunda 8$undefined/year
- Self-Managed under Camunda License 1.0, production licence required
- SaaS with a thirty day full trial
- Free unlimited BPMN and DMN modelling after the trial
Kogito
Free- KogitoFree
- Apache 2.0 licence
- Apache KIE incubating project
- No usage limits
Which should you pick?
Choose Camunda if
- You need bpmn 2.0 execution.
- You work on Web, Linux, Docker, Kubernetes.
- You also want dmn decision tables.
Choose Kogito if
- You need build-time code generation.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Linux, Docker, Kubernetes.
- You also want quarkus and spring boot support.
Questions people ask
- Is Camunda or Kogito better?
- Neither clearly leads. Camunda starts at On request and Kogito at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Camunda or Kogito?
- Kogito has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Camunda and Free for Kogito.
- Does Camunda or Kogito run on more platforms?
- Camunda runs on Web, Linux, Docker, Kubernetes. Kogito runs on Linux, Docker, Kubernetes.
- Can I use Kogito for free?
- Yes. Kogito has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Camunda starts at On request.
- What is Camunda best used for?
- Camunda is most often used for long-running business processes crossing several services where the state must be visible to non-developers, insurance claims or loan origination where the process model is itself a compliance artefact, replacing orchestration logic scattered across microservices with one engine that owns the state machine, a regulated organisation that needs an auditable record of how each process instance actually executed. Of those, long-running business processes crossing several services where the state must be visible to non-developers and insurance claims or loan origination where the process model is itself a compliance artefact are not what Kogito is typically brought in for.
- What can Camunda do that Kogito cannot?
- Camunda covers BPMN 2.0 execution, DMN decision tables, Zeebe engine, Operate console. Kogito covers Build-time code generation, Quarkus and Spring Boot support, DMN decision services, Drools rules engine.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
Camunda: Is Camunda still open source?
No. Camunda 8 Self-Managed ships under the Camunda License 1.0, which is source-available and requires a paid production licence.
Kogito: Is Kogito still maintained?
Yes. It is an Apache KIE incubating project with active commits, with Red Hat as the dominant contributor.
Camunda: What happened to Camunda 7?
Its final feature release, 7.24, was in October 2025 and the Community Edition receives no further patches. Enterprise support runs to April 2030.
Kogito: How does it differ from jBPM?
Kogito compiles process and rule definitions into application code at build time; jBPM was a runtime engine that loads definitions.
Camunda: Can I upgrade from 7 to 8?
Not in place. The engine, API and persistence changed, so it is a rewrite of the integration layer.
Kogito: Does it need Quarkus?
It is designed for Quarkus and supports Spring Boot; both are Java frameworks rather than a standalone server.
Camunda: What does it cost?
Camunda does not publish prices. Both self-managed production and SaaS require a quote.
Kogito: Is there commercial support?
Not from Apache. Red Hat sells supported builds of this lineage as part of its subscriptions.
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