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Head-to-head · Process Orchestration Software

Conductor vs Dapr

  • Updated Oct 2026
  • Both researched from official sources
  • 5 checks side by side
Higher score Conductor #6 in Process Orchestration Software 8.6/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 0 of 4 features Visit Conductor
Dapr #8 in Process Orchestration Software 8.4/10 Open source ✓ 4 of 4 features Explore Dapr

Conductor leads on 1 check, Dapr on 0, and 4 are even. Who comes out ahead on the 5 yes/no, price and count checks where we have data for both products. The editor score weighs everything else too.

Our verdict

  • Highest scoreConductor · 8.6/10
  • Free planonly Conductor
  • Most featuresDapr · 4 of 4

Conductor scores higher on our rubric for process orchestration software: 8.6 against 8.4 out of 10; our editors rank them #6 and #8.

Conductor offers free plan; Dapr doesn't.

Conductor is the better fit for open-source durable workflows with polyglot workers. Dapr is the better fit for self-hosted microservice workflow orchestration.

  • Conductor fits best

    Open-source durable workflows with polyglot workers

  • Dapr fits best

    Self-hosted microservice workflow orchestration

Advertiser disclosure: iTechGuides is reader-supported. Vendors can pay for top positions in our rankings and for a place on other products' pages, and we may earn a commission when you click some links. Bought places stand at the number bought; this page and our disclosure say so. Paying vendors may get a fuller, more detailed review from our editors, and that review can change their score. How we rank.

Side by side

Feature Conductor 8.6/10 Visit ↗ Dapr 8.4/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score 8.6 8.4
Ranking #6 in Process Orchestration Software #8 in Process Orchestration Software
Best for Open-source durable workflows with polyglot workers Self-hosted microservice workflow orchestration
Pricing model Free Free
Starting price Free plan Open source
Free plan ✓ (best) —
Free trial — —
Deployment Self-hosted, Cloud Cloud, Self-hosted
Support Community, Docs Community, Docs
Integrations 9 integrations 10 integrations
Built for Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise
Features Conductor 0/4 · Dapr 4/4
Human tasks & approvals Not checked yet ✓ (best)
Long-running workflows Not checked yet ✓ (best)
Workflow versioning Not checked yet ✓ (best)
Audit logs Not checked yet ✓ (best)
Specs
Deployment model Not checked yet Self_hosted
Concurrent runs Not checked yet Not checked yet
Our review
Pros
  • Persists task progress for recovery after failures or restarts
  • Supports workers and SDKs across seven listed programming languages
  • Combines event triggers, retries, approvals, observability, and sub-workflows
  • Durable execution with recovery, retries, timers, and compensation
  • Human approvals, external events, and workflow versioning
  • HTTP/gRPC APIs with Kubernetes and cloud ecosystem integrations
Cons
  • Self-hosted deployment requires Docker- or JVM-based infrastructure
  • The OSS distribution does not include the visual workflow editor
  • Its broad orchestration model may exceed simpler automation needs
  • Self-hosted deployment requires your team to operate the runtime
  • No conventional SaaS plans or hosted deployment option
  • Its broad runtime scope may exceed the needs of simple workflow projects
Our verdict

Conductor is an open-source orchestration platform for microservices, AI agents, and durable workflow graphs. It defines versioned workflows as task graphs, runs them across services and workers, and persists task progress for recovery…

Read the review →

Dapr is an open-source distributed application runtime for building durable workflows and distributed applications across Kubernetes, virtual machines, bare-metal environments, cloud, and edge deployments. It is aimed at teams…

Read the review →
  1. ConductorProcess Orchestration Software 8.6Free plan
  2. DaprProcess Orchestration Software 8.4Open source

Strengths and trade-offs

  • Conductor — where it wins

    • Persists task progress for recovery after failures or restarts
    • Supports workers and SDKs across seven listed programming languages
    • Combines event triggers, retries, approvals, observability, and sub-workflows

    Where it doesn't

    • Self-hosted deployment requires Docker- or JVM-based infrastructure
    • The OSS distribution does not include the visual workflow editor
    • Its broad orchestration model may exceed simpler automation needs

  • Dapr — where it wins

    • Durable execution with recovery, retries, timers, and compensation
    • Human approvals, external events, and workflow versioning
    • HTTP/gRPC APIs with Kubernetes and cloud ecosystem integrations

    Where it doesn't

    • Self-hosted deployment requires your team to operate the runtime
    • No conventional SaaS plans or hosted deployment option
    • Its broad runtime scope may exceed the needs of simple workflow projects

More comparisons

All process orchestration software comparisons → · Full ranking →

Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026

Last updated · How we research and update