Kestra vs Rundeck (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Kestra grades higher than Rundeck: 2.4 against 2.2 out of 4.0.
Checked Nov 12, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Nov 12, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Kestra grades higher on features. They get the same grade on value for money, 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.
Which one is for you
Pick Kestra if
- Fits if you are an engineer who wants to own the orchestrator
- Works for data teams already using dbt, Spark or Kafka
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you do not write YAML or run servers
- Tight if you need SSO, roles, audit logs or multi-tenancy, as those are Enterprise
- Watch out: no Cloud or Enterprise price is published
- Watch out: you run and upgrade the platform yourself
Pick Rundeck if
- Fits if your ops team runs scripts across many servers and wants a job log
- Works for small teams that can host the free Community edition
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if you need single sign-on or high availability, since those aren't in Community
- Skip it if you don't want to host it, as Community is self-hosted
- Watch out: commercial pricing isn't published; a PagerDuty Runbook Automation licence is bought through sales
- Watch out: a free trial of the commercial product is offered, but its length isn't stated
How we grade them
| 2.4GPAKestraFair | 2.2GPARundeckFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CThe open-source edition is $0 but needs your own servers, which is a C. Cloud and Enterprise prices are not published. | CCommunity is free but self-hosted. The commercial editions are quoted through sales, so there's no price to set against the category. |
| Free plan and trial | BFree to self-host under Apache 2.0, with unlimited flows and executions. You pay for the server. | BCommunity is free, open source and covers workflows, scheduling, key storage and a job log. You host it yourself. |
| Features | BDeclarative workflows, code and no-code editors, event-driven scheduling and over 2,600 plugins. Nothing in the listing shows a gap in the core work. | CWorkflow execution, scheduling, plugins, key storage and runners. Single sign-on, high availability and enterprise support aren't in the free edition. |
| Ease of use | DFlows are YAML, and self-hosting means running and upgrading it yourself. | DNo store rating on record. You install it on your own servers, and Community needs registration to download. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb interface with plugins for PostgreSQL, MySQL, Kafka, Terraform, dbt, Spark and Redis. No desktop or phone app. | BWeb, Windows, Linux and Mac, with 8 integrations and plugins. |
| Best for | workflows defined in YAML | running ops jobs and runbooks on a schedule |
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: Kestra and Rundeck. How we grade
Where they differ
- Rundeck also covers job scheduling.
At a glance
| Kestra | Rundeck | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | Not published | Not published |
| Free plan | The open-source edition is free to self-host, with unlimited flows and executions. | Rundeck Community is free, open source software with workflow execution, scheduling, key storage and a job activity log. |
| Free trial | None listed | Free trial of the commercial product offered; length not stated |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| Made by | Kestra | PagerDuty, Inc. |
| Price read from | kestra.io | rundeck.com |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Nov 13, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Kestra
- No Cloud or Enterprise price is published; Cloud is by access request and Enterprise by contact with sales.
- SSO, role-based access, audit logs and multi-tenancy are Enterprise Edition features.
- Workflows are defined in YAML, so it assumes engineering skills.
- Self-hosting means running and upgrading the platform yourself.
Rundeck
- Single sign-on, high-availability clusters and enterprise support are not in the free Community edition.
- Commercial pricing is not published; the downloads page says a license for PagerDuty Runbook Automation is bought through sales.
- Community is self-hosted and needs a registration step before download.
Key features
Kestra
- Declarative workflows
- Workflows, triggers and dependencies are written as YAML, versioned in Git and deployed through CI/CD.
- Code and no-code editors
- Flows can be written in code or built in a visual editor.
- Event-driven scheduling
- Flows run on schedules, on events or through the API, with retries, backfills and failure handling.
- 2,600+ plugins
- Plugins and scripts orchestrate SQL, Python, shell, APIs, Terraform, dbt and Spark in one workflow.
- AI features
- An MCP server for AI agents is in open source; an agentic AI copilot on any LLM is an Enterprise feature.
- Enterprise governance
- Enterprise adds SSO, LDAP and SCIM, role-based access, audit logs, multi-tenancy and secrets management.
Rundeck
- Workflow execution
- Jobs chain scripts, tools, APIs and system commands into standard procedures such as provisioning, software updates and configuration changes.
- Job scheduling
- Scheduled and self-service jobs for daily reports, file transfers and other periodic work, as an alternative to maintaining cron or Windows Task Scheduler.
- Job activity log
- Execution history for commands and jobs shows when each ran, its log output and duration, which supports auditing.
- Plugins
- Community plugins connect Rundeck to infrastructure and tools, and teams can write their own. Certified enterprise plugins come with the commercial editions.
- Key storage and encryption
- The Community edition includes key and password encryption and a key storage facility.
- High availability and runners
- The commercial editions add clusters with automatic takeover, failed-job resume, node health checks and the next-generation runner for remote environments.
Plans
Kestra
Open Source$0
Self-hosted under Apache 2.0. Unlimited flows and executions, queue on PostgreSQL or MySQL.
CloudCustom
Managed by Kestra with scaling and enterprise plugins; priced by usage, access by request.
Enterprise EditionCustom
Annual subscription per instance, with SSO, RBAC, audit logs, worker groups and SLA support.
Rundeck
Rundeck Community$0
Free open-source edition you host yourself, for small teams; registration is needed to download.
Runbook Automation Self HostedCustom
Commercial edition you host, with high availability, enterprise support and certified plugins. License sold through sales.
Runbook AutomationCustom
PagerDuty-hosted edition with a stated 99.9% availability SLA, single sign-on and managed security patching.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Kestra or Rundeck?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Kestra publishes no starting price, and Rundeck publishes no starting price.
Which has a free plan, Kestra or Rundeck?
As of Nov 13, 2026, both Kestra and Rundeck have a free plan.
Which platforms do Kestra and Rundeck run on?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only Rundeck lists macOS, Windows and Linux apps. Both list a web app. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
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.