Kestra
Open-source declarative orchestration platform for mission-critical workflows
Founded
2022
Starting Price
$0
Category
Automation & Integration
Last updated March 8, 2026
About Kestra
Kestra is an open-source, event-driven orchestration and scheduling platform designed for building mission-critical data pipelines, business processes, and automation workflows. It uses a declarative YAML-based approach with a powerful built-in editor, offering over 600 plugins and support for code in any language.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Intuitive UI that is significantly more user-friendly than Airflow
- YAML-based workflows are accessible to non-developers across the organization
- Massive plugin ecosystem with 600+ integrations for databases, cloud, and APIs
- Automatic file handling between tasks saves significant development time on data pipelines
- Flexible deployment options — local, Docker, Kubernetes, or major cloud providers
Key Features
Declarative YAML Workflows
Define workflows using YAML with autocompletion, syntax validation, and a built-in code editor — no complex setup required
Event-Driven & Scheduled Triggers
Trigger workflows via schedules, APIs, webhooks, or real-time events with millisecond latency
600+ Plugin Ecosystem
Extensive plugin library for integrating with databases, cloud storage, APIs, and popular data tools
Multi-Language Support
Write task logic in any programming language including Python, Java, Node.js, R, and shell scripts
Namespace-Based Organization
Organize and isolate workflows with namespaces for easy multi-environment management and testing
Automatic Data Handling
Task outputs are automatically uploaded to configured storage (S3, GCS) and downloaded for the next task seamlessly
Scalable Architecture
Multitenant architecture that scales from single-node to distributed Kubernetes deployments
Pricing
Open Source
$0
- Unlimited workflows
- 600+ plugins
- YAML editor with validation
- Event-driven triggers
- REST API
Best For
Data Pipeline Orchestration
Automate ETL/ELT pipelines with automatic data handling between tasks and integration with major data warehouses and lakes
Business Process Automation
Schedule and orchestrate business workflows across departments with event-driven triggers and notifications
DevOps & Infrastructure Automation
Manage CI/CD pipelines, infrastructure provisioning, and deployment workflows with Git integration
Real-Time Event Processing
React to real-time events from webhooks, message queues, and APIs with millisecond-latency triggering
