Camunda vs Trigger.dev (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Camunda and Trigger.dev share a 2.2 GPA, both have a free plan and their prices can't be set side by side, so the choice depends on whether you care more about features, where Camunda grades higher, or value for money, where Trigger.dev does.
Checked Nov 12, 2026 · graded Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
They get the same grade on the free plan, 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
Trigger.dev
Open-source platform for long-running background tasks and AI 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 Trigger.dev if
- Fits if you write TypeScript and need jobs that run for minutes or days
- Works for developers building AI agents that must survive crashes
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if you want a visual builder, as everything is code in your own project
- Tight if you stay free: $5 of credits a month, 10 schedules and 1 day of logs, and tasks stop when the credits are gone
- Pricey if you need more runs, since extra concurrency is $10 a month per 50 and Pro seats beyond 25 are $20 each
- Watch out: compute is billed per second by machine size plus $0.25 per 10,000 runs, so the bill is hard to predict
- Watch out: a HIPAA BAA is a $500 a month add-on
How we grade them
| 2.2GPACamundaFair | 2.2GPATrigger.devFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CNo production prices are published, and both production options go through sales. It sits in the middle. | BHobby is $10 a month with $10 of usage credits, which is the edge of the cheapest quarter ($10) in this category. Compute is billed per second on top, and a signed HIPAA BAA is $500 a month extra. |
| 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. | CA free plan with $5 of monthly credits, 20 concurrent runs, 5 team members and 1 day of log retention. When the credits run out, tasks stop. |
| 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. | CTasks with no time limit, schedules, queues, webhooks, a dashboard and open-source self-hosting. There's no visual workflow builder, and schedules are capped from 10 on Free to 1,000 on Pro. |
| Ease of use | DProcess models need BPMN skills, and the free edition means hosting it yourself. | DNo store rating on record. Tasks are TypeScript in your own codebase, and self-hosting is an option, so you need to be a developer to start. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb tools with connectors to SAP, ServiceNow and Microsoft Teams. No desktop or phone app. | BWeb dashboard, with an API, webhooks, streaming to a frontend through Realtime and a self-hosting guide. |
| Best for | BPMN process orchestration for engineers | running long background jobs 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 Trigger.dev. How we grade
Where they differ
- Trigger.dev is open source, according to its own site.
- Camunda also covers dashboards.
At a glance
| Camunda | Trigger.dev | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | Not published | $10 per month (Hobby), with $10 of usage credits included |
| Free plan | Self-Managed is free for local development and non-production use; production needs an Enterprise license. | $5 of monthly credits, 20 concurrent runs, 5 team members, 10 schedules, 1 day of log retention and community support. |
| 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 | API Hero Ltd. |
| Price read from | camunda.com | trigger.dev |
| 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.
Trigger.dev
- Tasks are written in TypeScript in your own codebase; there is no visual workflow builder.
- Compute is billed per second by machine size, plus $0.25 per 10,000 runs; a Small 1x machine costs $0.0000338 a second.
- A signed HIPAA BAA is a $500 a month add-on on the Hobby and Pro plans.
- The Free plan stops running tasks once its $5 of monthly credits is used up.
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.
Trigger.dev
- Tasks with no maximum duration
- Tasks are code that run on managed workers with no set time limit, so a single run can last minutes, days or longer. Waiting on a subtask or a long delay does not count toward compute.
- AI agents and chat
- Agent runs can last minutes or hours and survive crashes. Responses and tool calls can be streamed to a frontend through Realtime, and it works with the Vercel AI SDK.
- Schedules and webhooks
- Cron-style scheduled tasks and verified webhooks start runs. Schedules are capped by plan, from 10 on Free to 1,000 on Pro.
- Concurrency and queues
- Queues control how many runs execute at once. Limits only count while code is running, and extra concurrency on Pro is sold in bundles of 50 for $10 a month.
- Self-hosting
- The platform is open source under the Apache 2.0 license, and the vendor publishes a self-hosting guide for running it on your own infrastructure.
- Observability
- Runs are monitored and traced in a dashboard, with billing alerts at set share-of-budget levels. Log retention runs from 1 day on Free to 30 days on Pro.
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.
Trigger.dev
Free$0
$5 monthly credits, 20 concurrent runs, 5 team members, 10 schedules and 1 day of log retention.
Hobby$10
per month, with $10 of usage credits included
50 concurrent runs, 5 team members, 100 schedules, 7 days of log retention and 3 alert destinations.
Pro$50
per month, with $50 of usage credits included
200+ concurrent runs, 25+ team members ($20 per extra seat), 1,000+ schedules, 30 days of logs and Slack support.
EnterpriseCustom
Everything in Pro plus custom log retention, priority support, role-based access control, SSO and SOC 2 and pen-test reports.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Camunda or Trigger.dev?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Camunda publishes no starting price, and Trigger.dev starts at $10 per month (Hobby), with $10 of usage credits included.
Which has a free plan, Camunda or Trigger.dev?
As of Nov 12, 2026, both Camunda and Trigger.dev 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.