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GitHub adds GPT-6.1 Terra to Copilot and makes assisted permissions GA across CLI, app and VS Code.
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Windmill alternatives
The best Windmill alternatives in developer tools, ranked by Sparkpulse's velocity_score.
Updated Oct 28, 2026
Looking for the best alternatives to Windmill? Sparkpulse tracks and ranks 12 alternatives in developer tools by shipping velocity — how frequently each ships meaningful updates, verified from official changelogs. For reference, Windmill shipped 0 meaningful updates in the last 30 days and carries a velocity score of 7.5 out of 10 in 2026. The alternatives below are ranked the same way, so you're comparing real release momentum, not marketing claims.
About Windmill
Windmill is building a full AI-native workflow platform — guest app access, agent evals, dbt runtime, and AI cost tracking shipped in rapid succession.
Windmill is an open-source workflow automation and developer platform that has been adding AI capabilities at an accelerating rate. The last month brought AI agent evaluations (with dataset-based scoring and run comparison), AI usage and cost tracking per user and model, a Plan mode for AI sessions (read-only investigation posture), version history for both AI artifacts and resource values, and nested filter groups for Kafka and WebSocket triggers. The platform now spans workflow orchestration, AI-assisted script writing, and a native dbt runtime.
Velocity 7.5 · Last update 1mo ago
Top 12 alternatives to Windmill
Ranked by recent ship velocity. Tap any card for the full editorial breakdown, or pivot to a head-to-head.
INFRA · APIS
Cursor's Agent SDK turns custom agents into code projects you can test, then deploy anywhere.
INFRA · APIS
Redocly's reunite.agent gets per-duty cron schedules, rules and source repos.
INFRA · APIS
Hatchet takes durable tasks serverless, with handlers for Cloudflare Workers, Vercel and Node.
INFRA · APIS
Payload 4.0 beta 5 is a fix release with one adapter-facing breaking change.
INFRA · APIS
Airflow 3.4 reaches its first release candidate, a week after the 10-20 provider wave.
INFRA · APIS
Jackett ships a daily build to keep hundreds of torrent indexers working as sites move and close.
INFRA · APIS
SigNoz makes LLM traces readable with a conversation-style Thread view.
INFRA · APIS
ToolJet ships AI Builder release 4 to its LTS line, with Gemini 4 Argon support.
INFRA · APIS
Buildkite makes caching a built-in agent primitive and puts test workflows into Terraform.
INFRA · APIS
Tailscale ships a client patch to distrust compromised TLS intermediates as policy features land.
INFRA · APIS
Userback's Sites turn out to be a multi-site workspace, and the first follow-up targets agencies.
Windmill vs alternatives — shipping velocity at a glance
Velocity score (0–10) and meaningful releases shipped in the last 30 days, from official changelogs. Higher = shipping faster.
| Product | Velocity | Sparks · 30d | Focus areas | Latest release |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Windmill (baseline) | 7.5 | 0 | workflow-automationai-agentsdevtools | Guest access for apps |
| GitHub | 10.0 | 0 | copilotagent-permissionsmodel-choice | — |
| Cursor | 7.5 | 2 | agent-sdkcloud-agentsagentic-platform | Cursor Agent SDK goes GA: agents as code, deployable anywhere |
| Redocly | 6.3 | 0 | api documentationdocs agentsdeveloper portal | — |
| Hatchet | 6.3 | 1 | durable executionserverlesstask queues | Hatchet Serverless 0.1.0: durable tasks on Workers, Vercel, Node |
| Payload CMS | 6.3 | 1 | headless-cmsmajor-releaseupload adapters | Payload 4.0 beta: admin redesign, TanStack support, new MCP |
| Apache Airflow | 5.0 | 0 | workflow-orchestrationdata-engineeringproviders | — |
| Jackett | 5.0 | 0 | torrent indexersopen sourcemedia automation | — |
| SigNoz | 5.0 | 0 | observabilityllm-observabilityopentelemetry | — |
| ToolJet | 5.0 | 0 | low-codeinternal-toolsai-app-builder | — |
| Buildkite | 5.0 | 0 | ci/cdbuild cachingtest engine | — |
| Tailscale | 5.0 | 0 | zero trust networkingpolicy as codesecurity | — |
| Userback | 5.0 | 0 | user-feedbackmulti-siteagencies | — |
The 12 best Windmill alternatives, in depth
1. GitHub · velocity 10.0
GitHub adds GPT-6.1 Terra to Copilot and makes assisted permissions GA across CLI, app and VS Code.
Its velocity score of 10.0/10 reflects longer-term release cadence.
Where Windmill leans on workflow automation, ai agents and devtools, GitHub focuses on copilot, agent permissions and model choice.
GitHub and Windmill have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
2. Cursor · velocity 7.5
Cursor's Agent SDK turns custom agents into code projects you can test, then deploy anywhere.
Over the last 30 days Cursor shipped 2 meaningful updates vs Windmill's 0, most recently “Cursor Agent SDK goes GA: agents as code, deployable anywhere”. Its velocity score of 7.5/10 blends that with longer-term release cadence.
Where Windmill leans on workflow automation, ai agents and devtools, Cursor focuses on agent sdk, cloud agents and agentic platform.
Over the last 30 days Cursor has been shipping faster than Windmill — a point in its favour if release momentum matters to you.
3. Redocly · velocity 6.3
Redocly's reunite.agent gets per-duty cron schedules, rules and source repos.
Its velocity score of 6.3/10 reflects longer-term release cadence.
Where Windmill leans on workflow automation, ai agents and devtools, Redocly focuses on api documentation, docs agents and developer portal.
Redocly and Windmill have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
4. Hatchet · velocity 6.3
Hatchet takes durable tasks serverless, with handlers for Cloudflare Workers, Vercel and Node.
Over the last 30 days Hatchet shipped 1 meaningful update vs Windmill's 0, most recently “Hatchet Serverless 0.1.0: durable tasks on Workers, Vercel, Node”. Its velocity score of 6.3/10 blends that with longer-term release cadence.
Where Windmill leans on workflow automation, ai agents and devtools, Hatchet focuses on durable execution, serverless and task queues.
Over the last 30 days Hatchet has been shipping faster than Windmill — a point in its favour if release momentum matters to you.
5. Payload CMS · velocity 6.3
Payload 4.0 beta 5 is a fix release with one adapter-facing breaking change.
Over the last 30 days Payload CMS shipped 1 meaningful update vs Windmill's 0, most recently “Payload 4.0 beta: admin redesign, TanStack support, new MCP”. Its velocity score of 6.3/10 blends that with longer-term release cadence.
Where Windmill leans on workflow automation, ai agents and devtools, Payload CMS focuses on headless cms, major release and upload adapters.
Over the last 30 days Payload CMS has been shipping faster than Windmill — a point in its favour if release momentum matters to you.
Full Payload CMS trajectory → · Compare Windmill vs Payload CMS →
6. Apache Airflow · velocity 5.0
Airflow 3.4 reaches its first release candidate, a week after the 10-20 provider wave.
Its velocity score of 5.0/10 reflects longer-term release cadence.
Where Windmill leans on workflow automation, ai agents and devtools, Apache Airflow focuses on workflow orchestration, data engineering and providers.
Apache Airflow and Windmill have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
Full Apache Airflow trajectory → · Compare Windmill vs Apache Airflow →
7. Jackett · velocity 5.0
Jackett ships a daily build to keep hundreds of torrent indexers working as sites move and close.
Its velocity score of 5.0/10 reflects longer-term release cadence.
Where Windmill leans on workflow automation, ai agents and devtools, Jackett focuses on torrent indexers, open source and media automation.
Jackett and Windmill have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
8. SigNoz · velocity 5.0
SigNoz makes LLM traces readable with a conversation-style Thread view.
Its velocity score of 5.0/10 reflects longer-term release cadence.
Where Windmill leans on workflow automation, ai agents and devtools, SigNoz focuses on observability, llm observability and opentelemetry.
SigNoz and Windmill have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
9. ToolJet · velocity 5.0
ToolJet ships AI Builder release 4 to its LTS line, with Gemini 4 Argon support.
Its velocity score of 5.0/10 reflects longer-term release cadence.
Where Windmill leans on workflow automation, ai agents and devtools, ToolJet focuses on low code, internal tools and ai app builder.
ToolJet and Windmill have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
10. Buildkite · velocity 5.0
Buildkite makes caching a built-in agent primitive and puts test workflows into Terraform.
Its velocity score of 5.0/10 reflects longer-term release cadence.
Where Windmill leans on workflow automation, ai agents and devtools, Buildkite focuses on ci/cd, build caching and test engine.
Buildkite and Windmill have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
Full Buildkite trajectory → · Compare Windmill vs Buildkite →
11. Tailscale · velocity 5.0
Tailscale ships a client patch to distrust compromised TLS intermediates as policy features land.
Its velocity score of 5.0/10 reflects longer-term release cadence.
Where Windmill leans on workflow automation, ai agents and devtools, Tailscale focuses on zero trust networking, policy as code and security.
Tailscale and Windmill have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
Full Tailscale trajectory → · Compare Windmill vs Tailscale →
12. Userback · velocity 5.0
Userback's Sites turn out to be a multi-site workspace, and the first follow-up targets agencies.
Its velocity score of 5.0/10 reflects longer-term release cadence.
Where Windmill leans on workflow automation, ai agents and devtools, Userback focuses on user feedback, multi site and agencies.
Userback and Windmill have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best alternatives to Windmill?
The top Windmill alternatives we currently track in developer tools are GitHub, Cursor, Redocly, Hatchet, Payload CMS, ranked by recent ship velocity.
How is this list of Windmill alternatives ranked?
Alternatives are ranked by Sparkpulse's velocity_score — release cadence + 30-day spark count + sector-relative ship rate.
Can I compare Windmill directly with one of these alternatives?
Yes — every card has a "Compare with Windmill" link to a side-by-side /compare page.