What is Dagu used for?

Dagu is a self-hostable workflow engine that runs YAML-defined DAGs of scripts, containers and SSH commands, shipped as one executable with a web UI. It is a good fit for replacing cron jobs with visible workflows and operational runbook automation.

Yes. Dagu is open source under the GPL-3.0 licence. Its source code is on GitHub at dagucloud/dagu and is written mainly in Go.

Yes. Dagu is open source, so the software itself is free to use. Paid plans are also available, starting at $50 per month.

Can I self-host Dagu?

Yes. Dagu can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure.

What is Dagu an alternative to?

Dagu is an open-source alternative to AWS Step Functions and Google Cloud Workflows. Other open-source alternatives to AWS Step Functions include Conductor OSS, Temporal and Inngest.

Is Dagu actively maintained?

Yes. The most recent commit to Dagu was on 2 October 2026, and the latest release is v2.18.1, published on 29 September 2026. The project has 4.2k stars on GitHub.

Dagu: open-source alternative to AWS Step Functions

About Dagu

Dagu is a local-first workflow orchestrator for operations teams and internal automation. It is distributed as one executable that includes a web interface, requires neither a separate database nor a message queue, and works on Linux, macOS and Windows. It is aimed at teams whose main work is not orchestration, who just need dependable scheduling for existing scripts.

Workflows are directed acyclic graphs written in declarative YAML, keeping workflow definitions separate from business logic. Steps can invoke shell commands, containers, Kubernetes Jobs or commands on remote hosts over SSH, and Dagu Actions add further step types. It adds scheduling, retries, human approval tasks and run history, turning ad hoc scripts and runbooks into production workflows. Topics also mention MCP, AI agents and durable execution.

Dagu is written in Go and licensed under GPL-3.0. The project positions it as an alternative to Airflow, cron and job schedulers for people who want something lighter. A live demo, documentation, CLI and API references are available, and it can run on modest hardware.

Key features

Single binary with built-in web UI
Declarative YAML workflow definitions
Shell, Docker, Kubernetes and SSH steps
Scheduling, retries and run history
Human approval tasks
No external database required

Good fit for

→Replacing cron jobs with visible workflows
→Lightweight alternative to Airflow
→Operational runbook automation

Built with: Go
Tags: workflow-engine; scheduler; yaml; self-hosted; automation; dag; golang; airflow-alternative

Dagu: questions and answers

What is Dagu used for?: Dagu is a self-hostable workflow engine that runs YAML-defined DAGs of scripts, containers and SSH commands, shipped as one executable with a web UI. It is a good fit for replacing cron jobs with visible workflows and operational runbook automation.
Is Dagu open source?: Yes. Dagu is open source under the GPL-3.0 licence. Its source code is on GitHub at dagucloud/dagu and is written mainly in Go.
Is Dagu free?: Yes. Dagu is open source, so the software itself is free to use. Paid plans are also available, starting at $50 per month.
Can I self-host Dagu?: Yes. Dagu can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure.
What is Dagu an alternative to?: Dagu is an open-source alternative to AWS Step Functions and Google Cloud Workflows. Other open-source alternatives to AWS Step Functions include Conductor OSS, Temporal and Inngest.
Is Dagu actively maintained?: Yes. The most recent commit to Dagu was on 2 October 2026, and the latest release is v2.18.1, published on 29 September 2026. The project has 4.2k stars on GitHub.