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Inngest alternatives: 5 apps ranked by verified data

Facts checked Nov 8, 2026AppBreakup editorialHow we rankAll workflow orchestration tools

Top picks

  • Trigger.dev logo

    Best overall

    Trigger.dev

    Starting price: $10/month (Hobby)

  • Temporal logo

    Best free option

    Temporal

    Starting price: $50 per million actions

  • Prefect logo

    Best open source

    Prefect

    Starter plan: $100/month

Common reasons people leave Inngest: paid plans jump to a three-figure monthly base price, and execution-based pricing can climb quickly for step-heavy workflows. We ranked 5 alternatives by how directly each one replaces Inngest, then by reviews, real visits and how recently each app's facts were checked against its own website. Trigger.dev currently ranks first.

Quick comparison

#AppPricingVerified priceOpen sourcePlatformsVerified factsScore
1Trigger.dev logoTrigger.devOpen source$10/month (Hobby)NoWeb, Self-hosted5 of 568.8
2Temporal logoTemporalOpen source$50 per million actionsNoWeb, Self-hosted5 of 564.8
3Prefect logoPrefectOpen source$100/monthYesWeb, Linux, macOS +25 of 561.8
4Apache Airflow logoApache AirflowOpen source—YesLinux, Self-hosted, Web5 of 559.4
5Upstash logoUpstashFree plan + paidFrom $10/monthNoWeb3 of 350.0
  1. Trigger.dev logo

    1. Trigger.devTop pick

    Best for: TypeScript and Next.js teams that want durable background jobs without running their own queue

    Open sourceWeb, Self-hosted

    68.8

    score / 100

    Why switch from Inngest

    Runs tasks on managed workers with no timeouts, handy if your serverless host limits function duration.

    Pros

    • Tasks live in your repo as normal async TypeScript code
    • No run timeouts, and waiting runs are checkpointed so they don't use compute
    • Apache 2.0 licensed and self-hostable
    • Realtime progress updates to the frontend are built in

    Cons

    • TypeScript-first; Python only runs via an extension inside TypeScript tasks
    • Usage-based compute billing makes costs harder to predict than a flat fee
    • Free plan has 1-day log retention
    Visit Trigger.dev Details and reviews
    How this score is calculated
    Editorial fit ×0.3100
    Reviews ×0.363
    Clicks (90 days) ×0.150
    Freshness ×0.15100
    Votes ×0.150

    0 counted reviews, 0 up and 0 down votes. Full formula

    Is Trigger.dev a good Inngest alternative?

    Verified facts

    5 of 5 verified
    Free plan
    $5/month of credits
    Checked Nov 8, 2026trigger.dev(opens source in a new tab)
    Starting price
    $10/month (Hobby)
    Checked Nov 8, 2026trigger.dev(opens source in a new tab)
    License
    Apache-2.0
    Checked Nov 8, 2026github.com(opens source in a new tab)
    Self-hosting
    Yes
    Checked Nov 8, 2026trigger.dev(opens source in a new tab)
    Maximum run length
    No limit
    Checked Nov 8, 2026trigger.dev(opens source in a new tab)
  2. Temporal logo

    2. Temporal

    Best for: Engineering teams building business-critical, long-running processes in several languages

    Open sourceWeb, Self-hosted

    64.8

    score / 100

    Why switch from Inngest

    Battle-tested durable execution with more SDK languages for complex, long-lived business processes.

    Pros

    • MIT-licensed server you can run anywhere
    • Official SDKs for eight languages
    • Handles retries, timers and long waits without custom state machines
    • Detailed per-workflow event history for debugging

    Cons

    • Steep learning curve, including rules about deterministic workflow code
    • You still run and scale your own worker processes
    • Self-hosting the cluster and its database is a significant ops job
    Visit Temporal Details and reviews
    How this score is calculated
    Editorial fit ×0.387
    Reviews ×0.363
    Clicks (90 days) ×0.150
    Freshness ×0.15100
    Votes ×0.150

    0 counted reviews, 0 up and 0 down votes. Full formula

    Is Temporal a good Inngest alternative?

    Verified facts

    5 of 5 verified
    License
    MIT
    Checked Nov 8, 2026github.com(opens source in a new tab)
    Free credits
    $150 for 90 days
    Checked Nov 8, 2026temporal.io(opens source in a new tab)
    Starting price
    $50 per million actions
    Checked Nov 8, 2026temporal.io(opens source in a new tab)
    Self-hosting
    Yes
    Checked Nov 8, 2026temporal.io(opens source in a new tab)
    SDK languages
    Go, Java, Python, TypeScript, .NET, PHP, Ruby, Rust
    Checked Nov 8, 2026temporal.io(opens source in a new tab)
  3. Prefect logo

    3. Prefect

    Best for: Python teams who want orchestration without rewriting code into a separate DAG framework

    Open sourceSelf-hostableWeb, Linux, macOS, Windows, Self-hosted

    61.8

    score / 100

    Why switch from Inngest

    Python-first orchestration aimed at data pipelines, with a hosted UI and scheduling.

    Pros

    • Plain Python with a decorator, little new to learn
    • Free hosted Hobby tier and a self-hostable open source server
    • Runs on your own compute, Kubernetes or serverless

    Cons

    • Free cloud tier is limited to 2 users and 5 deployments
    • Smaller integration ecosystem than Airflow
    • Paid plans jump quickly from a flat fee to per-user pricing
    Visit Prefect Details and reviews
    How this score is calculated
    Editorial fit ×0.377
    Reviews ×0.363
    Clicks (90 days) ×0.150
    Freshness ×0.15100
    Votes ×0.150

    0 counted reviews, 0 up and 0 down votes. Full formula

    Is Prefect a good Inngest alternative?

    Verified facts

    5 of 5 verified
    License
    Apache-2.0
    Checked Nov 2, 2026github.com(opens source in a new tab)
    Free plan
    Hobby, free forever
    Checked Nov 8, 2026prefect.io(opens source in a new tab)
    Free plan limits
    2 users, 5 deployments
    Checked Nov 8, 2026prefect.io(opens source in a new tab)
    Starter plan
    $100/month
    Checked Nov 8, 2026prefect.io(opens source in a new tab)
    Team plan
    $100 per user/month
    Checked Nov 8, 2026prefect.io(opens source in a new tab)
  4. Apache Airflow logo

    4. Apache Airflow

    Best for: Data engineering teams that want a proven, free orchestrator with a huge integration ecosystem

    Open sourceSelf-hostableLinux, Self-hosted, Web

    59.4

    score / 100

    Why switch from Inngest

    Free open-source standard for scheduled batch pipelines if event-driven jobs aren't the main need.

    Pros

    • Free and open source with a very large community
    • Pipelines are plain Python, so they can be generated dynamically
    • Hundreds of ready-made operators for clouds and data tools
    • Managed versions available from several cloud providers

    Cons

    • Running scheduler, workers and metadata database yourself takes real ops effort
    • Local development and testing are clunkier than in newer tools like Prefect or Dagster
    • No official hosted service from the Apache project itself
    Visit Apache Airflow Details and reviews
    How this score is calculated
    Editorial fit ×0.369
    Reviews ×0.363
    Clicks (90 days) ×0.150
    Freshness ×0.15100
    Votes ×0.150

    0 counted reviews, 0 up and 0 down votes. Full formula

    Is Apache Airflow a good Inngest alternative?

    Verified facts

    5 of 5 verified
    License
    Apache-2.0
    Checked Nov 1, 2026github.com(opens source in a new tab)
    Pipeline language
    Python
    Checked Nov 8, 2026airflow.apache.org(opens source in a new tab)
    Web UI
    Yes
    Checked Nov 8, 2026airflow.apache.org(opens source in a new tab)
    Cloud integrations
    GCP, AWS, Azure and more
    Checked Nov 8, 2026airflow.apache.org(opens source in a new tab)
    Maintainer
    Apache Software Foundation
    Checked Nov 8, 2026airflow.apache.org(opens source in a new tab)
  5. Upstash logo

    5. Upstash

    Best for: Serverless and edge apps that need Redis, queues or scheduled jobs over HTTP

    Free plan + paidWeb

    50.0

    score / 100

    Why switch from Inngest

    QStash and Upstash Workflow run durable, retried steps from serverless functions over plain HTTP, priced per request.

    Pros

    • HTTP APIs work from edge and serverless runtimes
    • Pay-per-request pricing with a free tier
    • Queues and workflows alongside Redis

    Cons

    • Not a primary database or a full backend
    • Per-command pricing gets costly for very chatty workloads
    • Some Redis commands and modules are not supported
    Visit Upstash Details and reviews
    How this score is calculated
    Editorial fit ×0.338
    Reviews ×0.363
    Clicks (90 days) ×0.150
    Freshness ×0.15100
    Votes ×0.150

    0 counted reviews, 0 up and 0 down votes. Full formula

    Is Upstash a good Inngest alternative?

    Verified facts

    3 of 3 verified
    Free plan
    $0
    Checked Nov 8, 2026upstash.com(opens source in a new tab)
    Pay as you go
    $0.2 per 100K commands
    Checked Nov 8, 2026upstash.com(opens source in a new tab)
    Fixed plan
    From $10/month
    Checked Nov 8, 2026upstash.com(opens source in a new tab)

The best Inngest alternative for…

The highest-ranked app in this list for each need.

Trigger.dev logo

Best Inngest alternative for most people

Trigger.dev

Runs tasks on managed workers with no timeouts, handy if your serverless host limits function duration.

Temporal logo

Best Inngest alternative for a free option

Temporal

Battle-tested durable execution with more SDK languages for complex, long-lived business processes.

Upstash logo

Best Inngest alternative for a free plan you can upgrade

Upstash

QStash and Upstash Workflow run durable, retried steps from serverless functions over plain HTTP, priced per request.

Prefect logo

Best Inngest alternative for open source

Prefect

Python-first orchestration aimed at data pipelines, with a hosted UI and scheduling.

Apache Airflow logo

Best Inngest alternative for self-hosting

Apache Airflow

Free open-source standard for scheduled batch pipelines if event-driven jobs aren't the main need.

Prefect logo

Best Inngest alternative for Mac

Prefect

Python-first orchestration aimed at data pipelines, with a hosted UI and scheduling.

Prefect logo

Best Inngest alternative for Windows

Prefect

Python-first orchestration aimed at data pipelines, with a hosted UI and scheduling.

Prefect logo

Best Inngest alternative for Linux

Prefect

Python-first orchestration aimed at data pipelines, with a hosted UI and scheduling.

Trigger.dev logo

Best Inngest alternative for working in the browser

Trigger.dev

Runs tasks on managed workers with no timeouts, handy if your serverless host limits function duration.

Inngest alternatives: common questions

What is the best alternative to Inngest?

Trigger.dev ranks first right now. Runs tasks on managed workers with no timeouts, handy if your serverless host limits function duration. Temporal and Prefect follow it in our ranking.

Inngest vs Trigger.dev: what's the difference?

Both Inngest and Trigger.dev are free and open source. Verified prices: Inngest $99/month (Pro), Trigger.dev $10/month (Hobby). Both run on Web.

Is Inngest free?

Inngest is free and open source. Free plan: 50,000 executions/month; Starting price: $99/month (Pro). Checked on Inngest's own site, November 2026.

How much do Inngest alternatives cost?

Verified prices for the top-ranked Inngest alternatives: Trigger.dev, $10/month (Hobby); Temporal, $50 per million actions; Prefect, $100/month; Upstash, From $10/month. Each price was checked on the app's own site; see each card below for the date and source.

Is there a free alternative to Inngest?

Yes. Trigger.dev (open source), Temporal (open source), Prefect (open source) and Apache Airflow (open source) have a free option. Check each app's verified facts for current plan limits.

Is there an open-source alternative to Inngest?

Yes: Prefect and Apache Airflow. Prefect and Apache Airflow can also be self-hosted.

Which Inngest alternatives work on Linux?

Prefect and Apache Airflow run on Linux.

Why do people switch from Inngest?

The complaints we hear most: paid plans jump to a three-figure monthly base price; execution-based pricing can climb quickly for step-heavy workflows; fewer SDK languages than Temporal.

How is this list ranked?

Every app is scored with the same published formula: how directly it replaces Inngest, reviews (weighted by verification), visits from AppBreakup, how recently its facts were checked against its own website, and reader votes.