Kestra is an open-source orchestration platform. Workflows are declared in YAML and can run scripts in any language, call APIs, react to events and schedules, and coordinate data pipelines, infrastructure tasks and AI jobs, with a web UI for editing and monitoring.
Key features
- Declarative YAML workflows
- Hundreds of plugins
- Event, schedule and webhook triggers
- Web UI with editor, topology view and logs
- Runs scripts in any language
- Kestra 2.0 engine with roughly double the throughput of 1.3
Who it's for
Kestra suits data engineers, platform teams and developers who want orchestration as code without being tied to Python.
Common use cases
- ETL and ELT pipelines
- Infrastructure automation
- AI and ML pipelines
- Event-driven business processes
Pricing
Kestra is freemium: the open-source edition is free, and the Enterprise edition is paid. Check the official site for current plan details.
Why Kestra is trending
Kestra 2.0 reports doubled throughput and loops 3 times faster than 1.3, and version 2.0.7 shipped on Oct 20, 2026.
Sources: medium.com, kestra.io
How to get started with Kestra
- Visit the official Kestra website at https://kestra.io and read the quickstart in the docs.
- Sign up or install it, depending on whether you use the hosted service or the open-source version.
- Try it on a small project first, then connect it to your existing stack and CI.
- Review the pricing page before scaling usage so costs stay predictable.
Is Kestra worth it?
Kestra is a well-established tool with an active team and frequent releases in October 2026. For teams that match the use cases above, it's worth evaluating against the alternatives listed here, and the freemium model makes it easy to try before committing.
Alternatives
- Apache Airflow: Python DAG orchestrator
- Temporal: durable execution platform
FAQ
What is Kestra?
Kestra is an open-source declarative orchestrator where you define data, infrastructure and AI workflows in YAML, with a UI, scheduling and triggers.
Is Kestra open source?
Yes, the open-source edition is free.
Kestra vs Airflow?
Kestra uses declarative YAML and is language-agnostic, while Airflow defines DAGs in Python.
What's new in Kestra 2.0?
A new execution engine with about double the throughput of 1.3.