Workato is an enterprise integration platform built for connecting SaaS applications and automating business processes like order-to-cash and employee onboarding. Kestra is a workflow orchestration platform for engineering and data teams that need data pipelines, infrastructure automation, and business workflows running at production scale, with full version control and the option to self-host.
Declarative YAML orchestration platform for engineering and data teams. Define data pipelines, infrastructure automation, and business workflows in version-controlled YAML. Any event, any language, self-hosted or on Kestra Cloud, with GitOps and full audit trails.
Low-code iPaaS built for enterprise teams connecting SaaS apps and automating business processes. Visual recipe builder lets business and IT teams automate without writing code. Cloud-only, with thousands of pre-built connectors for Salesforce, Workday, ServiceNow, SAP, and more.
Workato is cloud-only SaaS, so there is no infrastructure to provision. But workflows live exclusively in Workato's cloud, pricing scales with recipe volume, and migrating away means re-exporting everything manually. Kestra gives you the same fast start in two commands, with full portability.
curl -o docker-compose.yml \https://raw.githubusercontent.com/kestra-io/kestra/develop/docker-compose.ymldocker compose up
# Open localhost:8080# Pick a Blueprint, run it. Done.Download the Docker Compose file, spin it up, and you're ready (database and config included). Open the UI, pick a Blueprint, run it. No cloud account required, no per-recipe billing, no vendor lock-in.
Sign up at workato.com, connect your first app via OAuth, and build your first recipe in the visual editor. No infrastructure to manage, but all workflows run in Workato's cloud and pricing scales with the number of recipes and recipe runs.
YAML is readable on day 1. Our docs are embedded in the UI for easy reference, the AI Copilot writes workflows for you, or start with our library of Blueprints. Workflows live in Git and deploy through your existing CI/CD pipeline.
Workato recipes are built visually in the browser using a drag-and-drop editor. Recipe Copilot uses AI to generate automations from natural language descriptions. No code required for standard integrations. Complex logic uses Workato's proprietary formula language.
Orchestrate data pipelines, infrastructure provisioning, business processes, and event-driven automations in one platform. Self-host with full control or use Kestra Cloud.
Connect enterprise SaaS apps and automate business processes with thousands of pre-built connectors and a visual builder. Excellent for IT and business teams automating Salesforce-to-Workday flows. Not designed for data pipeline execution or engineering-team workflows.
| | | |
|---|---|---|
| Primary use case | Universal workflow orchestration | Enterprise app integration and business process automation |
| Workflow definition | Declarative YAML (version-controlled) | Visual recipe builder (low-code, cloud-stored) |
| Deployment model | Self-hosted or Kestra Cloud | Cloud-only (no self-hosting) |
| Languages supported | Agnostic (Python, R, Bash, Node.js, SQL & more) | Proprietary formula language for custom logic; no general-purpose code execution |
| Data pipeline support | Native support (ETL, dbt, Spark, Airbyte) | Data pipeline recipes available but not built for compute-heavy workloads |
| Infrastructure automation | Native support | Not designed for this |
| Self-service for non-engineers | Kestra Apps | ✓ Visual recipe builder for business teams |
| GitOps and version control | Native Git sync, Terraform provider | Manual recipe export; Git integration on higher plans |
| Multi-tenancy and RBAC | Enterprise namespace isolation | ✓ Enterprise workspaces and role-based access |
| Pricing model | Infrastructure cost (no per-recipe billing) | Quote-based, scales with recipe volume and connector usage |
| Open source | Open source (Apache 2.0) | Closed source SaaS |
With Kestra, orchestration stopped being a fragile point in the architecture and became a stable foundation for the business.
Every Kestra flow is a YAML file stored in a repository, reviewed in a pull request, and deployed through CI/CD. Changes are tracked in commit history, rollbacks are a git revert, and every deployment is auditable by anyone with repo access. Automation gets the same engineering rigor as any other production system.
1,200+ native plugins cover dbt, Airbyte, Spark, Snowflake, BigQuery, Databricks, and every major data warehouse and cloud provider. Engineers define ETL pipelines in the same declarative YAML they use for business process automation, with DAG visualization and retry semantics for data-specific failures built in. A Salesforce sync, an overnight dbt run, and a nightly report delivery all run in one platform with one operational model.
Kestra runs on your infrastructure with no per-execution billing. Costs grow with compute and storage, not with the number of automations you build or how often they run. Teams that have migrated from usage-based automation platforms to Kestra have reported integration cost reductions of 90% or more.
Find answers to your questions right here, and don't hesitate to Contact Us if you couldn't find what you're looking for.
See how Kestra can simplify your workflows—and scale beyond enterprise iPaaS.