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Reviewed · Updated 2026-10-04

Dagu

Dagu is a self-hosted workflow engine that runs scripts, containers and SSH commands from YAML files, with a free Community edition for ops teams.

Reviewed by the Conversion Gems editorial team ·
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Pricing
Freemium
Best for
Replacing cron with a UI
Category
Developer & Technical

Dagu is a self-hosted workflow engine that runs scripts, Docker containers, SSH commands and HTTP calls from YAML files, with cron, retries and a web UI. It ships as one binary with no database. The Community edition is free; Team costs $50 a month for 3 servers and adds SSO, RBAC and audit logs.

The bottom line

A practical, low-overhead way to manage scheduled jobs on your own servers.

7.3
Our score
7.3 / 10
Conversion Gems editorial verdict
Free Community; Team $50/mo for 3 servers
Features7/10
7 - Docker, SSH and HTTP executors, cron, retries, queues, nested workflows, distributed workers and MCP, per dagu.sh.
Value9/10
9 - Community edition is free with unlimited servers and workers; paid plans start at $50 a month, per dagu.sh/pricing.
Ease of use7/10
7 - single binary, no database and a web UI, but workflows are written in YAML.
Ecosystem6/10
6 - Docker, SSH and HTTP executors, MCP, API keys and Helm; no large plugin catalogue is listed.
Support6/10
6 - docs and GitHub for Community; standard support on Team and Pro, priority support on Enterprise, per the pricing page.
What it really is

A single-binary, self-hosted workflow orchestrator that runs YAML-defined jobs with cron, retries and a web UI.

Our take

Dagu sits between crontab and Airflow. You get dependencies, retries, queues, logs and a DAG view from one binary with no database, which keeps setup short. The free edition covers most small teams; access control and audit logs are where the paid licenses start.

Why we rate it

A generous free tier and very little infrastructure to run.

The catch

SSO, RBAC and audit logs are paid, and there is no managed cloud option.

Best for
Replacing cron jobs with tracked workflows
Ops teams on their own or air-gapped servers
Small teams that want a UI without a database
Not good for
Teams that want a fully managed service
Data teams needing a large plugin library
Companies that cannot use GPLv3 software
Friction report
Time to value
Minutes: install the binary, write a YAML file and open the web UI.
Scale breakpoint
When you need SSO, RBAC or audit logs (Team) or more than 3 licensed servers (Pro).
Walled garden
Low: GPLv3 code, plain YAML files and your own servers.

Dagu plans and pricing

PlanMonthlyYearlyServer licensesAdds
CommunityFreeFreeUnlimited servers and workersWeb UI, Docker/SSH/HTTP executors, cron, retries, up to 2 API keys
Team$50/mo$500/yr3SSO (OIDC), RBAC, audit logging, standard support, incident routing
Pro$150/mo$1,500/yr15Same as Team
EnterpriseCustomCustomCustomPriority support

From Dagu's pricing page, checked 4 October 2026. Team and Pro include a 14-day trial with no credit card.

Frequently Asked Questions

Dagu alternatives

Other workflow orchestrators to compare:

Kestra: Open-source, YAML-based orchestration platform with a large plugin library and paid enterprise and cloud editions.
AWS Step Functions: Managed AWS service for visual, serverless workflows that call other AWS services.
Prefect: Python-first workflow orchestration for building, scheduling and monitoring data pipelines.
Windmill: Low-code platform for automating business workflows and building internal apps from scripts.
Sources checked October 4, 2026: Dagu homepage, Dagu pricing, Dagu on GitHub, Dagu releases.
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Tags

#WorkflowAutomation#SelfHosted#OpenSource#DevOps

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