Camunda vs Inngest (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Inngest grades higher than Camunda: 2.4 against 2.2 out of 4.0.
Checked Nov 12, 2026 · graded Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
Inngest grades higher on the free plan. They get the same grade on value for money, features, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Camunda
BPMN process orchestration, self-hosted or as a cloud service
Inngest
Durable execution for background jobs, event-driven apps and agents
Which one is for you
Pick Camunda if
- Fits if your team writes process logic and wants BPMN in a standard format
- Works for developers who start on the free local edition
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want a published price, as production plans are sold through sales
- Not for you if you need the free edition in production, as it is for non-production use
- Watch out: after 30 days the SaaS account can model but not run processes
- Too heavy for a quick no-code job, as it expects engineers
Pick Inngest if
- Fits if you are a developer who needs reliable background jobs
- Works for a small team that can stay inside 50k executions
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you do not write code, as there is no drag-and-drop builder
- Tight if you stay free: 5 concurrent steps and 24 hours of traces
- Watch out: Pro and Business bill extra executions, steps, workers and span data
- Watch out: HIPAA is an add-on on Pro and Business, and sandboxes in open beta are billed per second
How we grade them
| 2.2GPACamundaFair | 2.4GPAInngestFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CNo production prices are published, and both production options go through sales. It sits in the middle. | CPro is $99 a month for 15 seats, which is about $20 a head for five people, near the middle of automation ($19). Extra executions cost $50 per 1M. |
| Free plan and trial | CSelf-Managed is free for local and non-production use only. The SaaS trial lasts 30 days, then a free account can model but not run processes. | BFree plan with no card: 5 seats, 50k executions, 500k events a month and 24 hours of traces. One small project can live on it. |
| Features | BBPMN and DMN modeling, a process engine, connectors, Operate and Tasklist, reporting and document processing. Nothing in the listing shows a gap in the core work. | BDurable step functions, queues, events, observability and AI agent tooling. Nothing in the listing shows a gap in the core work. |
| Ease of use | DProcess models need BPMN skills, and the free edition means hosting it yourself. | DWorkflows are written in code with an SDK, so it needs a developer. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb tools with connectors to SAP, ServiceNow and Microsoft Teams. No desktop or phone app. | BWeb service with open-source SDKs and a Datadog integration. No desktop or phone app. |
| Best for | BPMN process orchestration for engineers | background jobs written in code |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Camunda and Inngest. How we grade
Where they differ
- Camunda is self-hostable, according to its own site.
- Inngest is open source, according to its own site.
- Camunda also covers dashboards.
At a glance
| Camunda | Inngest | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | Not published | $99 per month (Pro), billing basis not stated |
| Free plan | Self-Managed is free for local development and non-production use; production needs an Enterprise license. | 5 seats, 50k executions, 5 concurrent steps and 500k events a month, with 24 hours of trace history. No credit card required. |
| Free trial | 30-day free trial of Camunda SaaS with full process execution, then a free account limited to modeling. | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Camunda | Inngest Inc. |
| Price read from | camunda.com | inngest.com |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Nov 12, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Camunda
- No production prices are published; both production options are sold through sales.
- The free Self-Managed edition is for development and non-production use only.
- After the 30-day SaaS trial, a free account keeps modeling but cannot execute processes.
- SaaS Console and Modeler are hosted in the EU, and clusters can be created in other regions.
Inngest
- Workflows are written in code using an SDK; there is no drag-and-drop builder.
- Pro and Business prices are shown as a base with usage on top: extra executions, concurrent steps, workers and span data are billed beyond the included amounts.
- HIPAA support is an add-on on Pro and Business, and included only on Enterprise.
- Sandboxes are in open beta and are billed per second: $0.000011 for a vCPU and $0.000003 for 1 GB of memory.
Key features
Camunda
- BPMN and DMN modeling
- Process models in BPMN and decision models in DMN, built in a Desktop Modeler or a collaborative Web Modeler with version history and Git Sync.
- Process engine and connectors
- The Zeebe engine runs BPMN processes and the decision engine runs DMN, with connectors and an integration framework and SDK.
- Operate and Tasklist
- Operate inspects running processes and decisions, and Tasklist handles human tasks with form integration.
- Optimize reporting
- Custom process reports, dashboards and KPI-based monitoring and alerts are listed under Optimize.
- Intelligent document processing
- IDP and RPA, plus SAP and ServiceNow integrations, appear in the feature comparison; IDP is listed for the hosted SaaS edition.
Inngest
- Durable step functions
- Functions are split into steps that are retried and resumed on failure. A single run can last up to 30 days on Free, 90 on Pro and 366 on Business, including sleeps and waits.
- Queues and flow control
- Concurrency and queue depth are managed for you. Concurrent steps start at 5 on Free and 100 on Pro, with more sold in packs of 25 for $25.
- Events and webhooks
- Functions start from events sent from your app or other sources. Free allows 500k events a month and 256 KiB per event; paid plans allow 3 MiB.
- Observability
- Every function run is traced, with metrics and span data. Trace history is 24 hours on Free, 7 days on Pro, 14 days on Business and 90 days on Enterprise.
- AI agents and sandboxes
- Inngest has an AgentKit project and a sandbox product, in open beta, billed per second for vCPU and memory. Agent evaluation scores are metered by plan.
- Open source SDKs
- The server and SDKs for TypeScript, Python, Go and Kotlin are published on GitHub, and you can develop locally before moving to Cloud.
Plans
Camunda
Development (Self-Managed)$0
Build and test on your own machine, with no license, for non-production use only. You host it yourself.
Production (Self-Managed)Custom
Enterprise license to run in production on your own infrastructure, with 24x7 support and SLAs. Sold through sales.
Camunda SaaSCustom
Fully hosted by Camunda with the full orchestration platform and 24x7 support. Bought through sales or started with a trial.
Inngest
Free$0
5 seats, 50k executions, 5 concurrent steps, 3 workers and 500k events a month, with 24 hours of trace history.
Pro$99
per month and up, includes 1M executions
15 seats ($10 per extra), 100 concurrent steps, 20 workers, 5M+ events and 7 days of traces. Extra executions $50 per 1M.
Business$499
per month and up, includes 10M executions
30 seats ($10 per extra), 500 concurrent steps, 100 workers, 50M+ events and 14 days of traces. Extra executions $25 per 1M.
EnterpriseCustom
Custom limits, 90 days of trace history, SAML, RBAC, audit trails, HIPAA included and a dedicated Slack channel.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Camunda or Inngest?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Camunda publishes no starting price, and Inngest starts at $99 per month (Pro), billing basis not stated.
Which has a free plan, Camunda or Inngest?
As of Nov 12, 2026, both Camunda and Inngest have a free plan.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.