Automation Integration · head to head
Orkes vs Windmill
Orkes
Automation Integration
Commercial Conductor, now the maintainer of the workflow engine Netflix archived
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
Windmill
Automation Integration
Open-source developer platform for building scripts, workflows, and internal apps
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Each has a real cost: Orkes netflix archived the Conductor repository in December 2023 and Orkes took over maintenance, so the large-company backing that justified many original adoptions no longer exists.; Windmill free self-hosted tier caps SSO users at 10 and workspaces at 3, requiring Enterprise for larger teams.
- They diverge on capability: Orkes covers JSON workflow definitions, Windmill covers Script-to-workflow engine.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Orkes and Windmill actually diverge.
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 Orkes
- JSON workflow definitions
- Polyglot workers
- Visual workflow builder
- AI and LLM tasks
- Human tasks
- Event handlers
- RBAC and secrets
- Hosted or self-hosted
Only in Windmill
- Script-to-workflow engine
- Auto-generated UIs
- Self-hosted deployment
- Git sync
- SSO support
- Audit logs
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Orkes
- A microservices estate that needs orchestration across services written in different languages without a shared SDKnot Windmill
- A team already running Conductor OSS that wants a supported distribution now that Netflix has stopped maintaining itnot Windmill
- An AI platform composing agent steps, model calls and vector lookups as versioned workflow definitionsnot Windmill
- A business process needing human approval steps interleaved with automated service callsnot Windmill
Windmill
- Turning ad-hoc scripts into scheduled jobs and APIsnot Orkes
- Building internal tools from existing Python/TypeScript codenot Orkes
- Self-hosted automation for engineering teamsnot Orkes
- Orchestrating multi-language workflowsnot Orkes
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Orkes
- Netflix archived the Conductor repository in December 2023 and Orkes took over maintenance, so the large-company backing that justified many original adoptions no longer exists.
- Enterprise pricing is entirely unpublished, and the only free option is explicitly a prototyping sandbox whose limits can change at any time, so there is no supported low-cost entry point.
- Self-hosting Conductor OSS in production means operating the engine plus its persistence and indexing dependencies, typically Postgres or Cassandra with Elasticsearch, which is a substantial platform commitment.
- JSON workflow definitions are language agnostic but verbose and awkward to test, and teams accustomed to defining workflows in code find them a step backwards in developer experience.
- Orkes is a small company whose commercial future is tied to a single open source project it also maintains, which concentrates both vendor and project risk in the same place.
Windmill
- Free self-hosted tier caps SSO users at 10 and workspaces at 3, requiring Enterprise for larger teams.
- Compute unit and seat-based pricing (developer vs. operator seats, worker compute units) adds pricing complexity beyond a flat monthly fee.
- Email triggers are capped at 100/day on the free tier, limiting event-driven use cases without upgrading.
- Smaller ecosystem of pre-built integrations compared to more established automation tools like n8n.
Pricing, plan by plan
Orkes
Free- Developer EditionFree
- All Conductor OSS features plus enterprise capabilities
- Sandbox for prototyping only
- Rate limits and resources may change without notice
- Enterprise$undefined/year
- Availability SLA up to 99.99%
- Orkes-hosted or customer-hosted deployment
- Dedicated technical account manager
Windmill
Free- Free / Open-sourceFree
- Unlimited executions
- Self-hosted deployment
- Max 10 users with SSO
- Enterprise$120/month
- Unlimited executions and workspaces
- Uncapped SSO seats
- 24/7 priority support (3-hour response)
Which should you pick?
Choose Orkes if
- You need json workflow definitions.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, Cloud.
- You also want polyglot workers.
Choose Windmill if
- You need script-to-workflow engine.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on web, api, linux, windows, mac.
- You also want auto-generated uis.
Questions people ask
- Is Orkes or Windmill better?
- Neither clearly leads. Orkes starts at Free and Windmill at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Orkes or Windmill?
- Orkes starts at Free and Windmill at Free.
- Does Orkes or Windmill run on more platforms?
- Orkes runs on Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, Cloud. Windmill runs on web, api, linux, windows, mac.
- Can I use Orkes for free?
- Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
- What is Orkes best used for?
- Orkes is most often used for a microservices estate that needs orchestration across services written in different languages without a shared sdk, a team already running conductor oss that wants a supported distribution now that netflix has stopped maintaining it, an ai platform composing agent steps, model calls and vector lookups as versioned workflow definitions, a business process needing human approval steps interleaved with automated service calls. Of those, a microservices estate that needs orchestration across services written in different languages without a shared sdk and a team already running conductor oss that wants a supported distribution now that netflix has stopped maintaining it are not what Windmill is typically brought in for.
- What can Orkes do that Windmill cannot?
- Orkes covers JSON workflow definitions, Polyglot workers, Visual workflow builder, AI and LLM tasks. Windmill covers Script-to-workflow engine, Auto-generated UIs, Self-hosted deployment, Git sync.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
Orkes: Does Netflix still maintain Conductor?
No. Netflix archived its repository in December 2023. The open source project continues at conductor-oss under Apache 2.0, maintained by Orkes.
Windmill: What does Windmill cost?
Windmill's Free and Open-source edition is $0/month for self-hosted use with unlimited executions, while Enterprise starts at $120/month with unlimited workspaces and uncapped SSO seats, priced further by developer/operator seats and compute units.
SourceOrkes: Is there a free production tier?
No. The Developer Edition is a sandbox that the vendor states is unsuitable for production. Self-hosting Conductor OSS is the free production route.
Windmill: Is there a free plan and what are its limits?
The free self-hosted plan supports unlimited executions but caps SSO at 10 users, workspaces at 3, groups/permissions at 4, and email triggers at 100 per day.
SourceOrkes: What does Enterprise cost?
Nothing is published; it is quoted by deployment and support requirements.
Windmill: How is usage metered on Windmill Enterprise?
Enterprise usage is metered through seats (developer seats at $20/month, operator seats at $10/month) and compute units, e.g. $100/month for 2 standard-worker compute units.
SourceOrkes: How does it compare with Temporal?
Conductor uses declarative JSON workflow definitions and external workers; Temporal defines workflows in code. Temporal has the larger community.
Windmill: What happens to a self-hosted Windmill deployment if the company shuts down?
The pricing page addresses this directly as an FAQ topic, noting that self-hosted applications built on the open-source edition can continue running independently of Windmill the company.
SourceRelated pages
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