Rundeck vs StackStorm (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, StackStorm grades higher than Rundeck: 2.4 against 2.2 out of 4.0.
Checked Nov 13, 2026 · graded Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
StackStorm 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.
StackStorm
Open-source event-driven automation for DevOps and SRE teams
Free
Which one is for you
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
Pick StackStorm if
- Fits if your IT team wants rules that react to events and run fixes automatically
- Works for engineers comfortable writing Python sensors and actions
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you don't want to host software, since no hosted service is listed
- Not for you if you need vendor support, as help comes from community Slack, forums and GitHub
- Too light on hand-holding for non-technical teams: custom pieces are Python plugins or scripts
- Watch out: install docs cover Ubuntu and RHEL-compatible Linux, Docker and Kubernetes, not Windows or Mac
How we grade them
| 2.2GPARundeckFair | 2.4GPAStackStormFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CCommunity is free but self-hosted. The commercial editions are quoted through sales, so there's no price to set against the category. | C$0 for open-source software, but you run it on your own machines. That puts it in the middle. |
| Free plan and trial | BCommunity is free, open source and covers workflows, scheduling, key storage and a job log. You host it yourself. | BNo paid plan; it costs only the servers you host it on. |
| Features | CWorkflow execution, scheduling, plugins, key storage and runners. Single sign-on, high availability and enterprise support aren't in the free edition. | BSensors, rules, workflows, packs, an audit trail, ChatOps and an API. The core job is covered. |
| Ease of use | DNo store rating on record. You install it on your own servers, and Community needs registration to download. | DNo store rating on record. You install it on Linux, Docker or Kubernetes and write Python. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb, Windows, Linux and Mac, with 8 integrations and plugins. | BWeb UI and Linux, with 7 integrations and an API. |
| Best for | running ops jobs and runbooks on a schedule | event-driven automation for IT operations |
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: Rundeck and StackStorm. How we grade
Where they differ
- Rundeck also covers job scheduling.
In commonFree planWebLinuxOpen sourceSelf-hostableWorkflow automation
At a glance
| Rundeck | StackStorm | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free |
| Starts at | Not published | Free |
| Free plan | Rundeck Community is free, open source software with workflow execution, scheduling, key storage and a job activity log. | None |
| Free trial | Free trial of the commercial product offered; length not stated | None listed |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| Made by | PagerDuty, Inc. | StackStorm, a Series of LF Projects, LLC |
| Price read from | rundeck.com | stackstorm.com |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Nov 13, 2026 |
Worth knowing
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.
StackStorm
- It is self-hosted: the install docs cover Ubuntu and RHEL-compatible Linux, Docker and Kubernetes, and no hosted service is listed.
- The project lists no paid plan or vendor support; help comes from the community Slack, forums and GitHub.
- Custom sensors and actions are written as Python plugins or scripts, so it suits technical teams.
Key features
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.
StackStorm
- Sensors and triggers
- Sensors are Python plugins that watch for events in outside systems and emit triggers, such as timers, webhooks or a monitoring alert.
- Rules
- Rules map triggers to actions or workflows, with matching criteria and a mapping from the trigger payload to the action's inputs.
- Actions and workflows
- Actions are outbound integrations such as SSH or REST calls, and workflows string several actions together with order, conditions and data passing.
- Packs and Exchange
- Packs group integrations and automations for sharing, and many are published on StackStorm Exchange.
- Audit trail
- Manual and automated action executions are recorded with their triggering context and results, and audit logs can feed tools such as Splunk and syslog.
- ChatOps, web UI and API
- The docs describe ChatOps support, a web UI, a CLI client, a REST API and Python client bindings.
Plans
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.
StackStorm
Open source$0
Free software you install and run yourself. The project's pages list no paid plans.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Rundeck or StackStorm?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Rundeck publishes no starting price, and StackStorm is free.
Which has a free plan, Rundeck or StackStorm?
As of Nov 13, 2026, both Rundeck and StackStorm have a free plan.
Which platforms do Rundeck and StackStorm run on?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only Rundeck lists macOS and Windows apps. Both list a web app and a Linux 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.