# deer-flow vs windmill

> Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.

| | deer-flow | windmill |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 86/100 ✓ | 77/100 |
| Rank in category | #5 of 209 in AI Agents | #6 of 32 in Workflow Automation |
| GitHub stars | 84 580 ✓ | 18 307 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +1 659 ✓ | +287 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 2 | 162 ✓ |
| Latest release | v2.1.0 · 24 Sept 2026 | v1.852.0 · 28 Oct 2026 ✓ |
| Setup | Advanced | Moderate ✓ |
| Official Docker image | No | Yes ✓ |
| License | MIT | Other |
| Main language | Python | Rust |

## Which one should you pick?

deer-flow scores 86/100 against 77/100 for windmill, so it is the safer default.

windmill ships more often: 162 stable releases in the past year, against 2 for deer-flow.

If you want the quickest setup, windmill is easier to run; deer-flow needs more configuration.

deer-flow is growing faster right now (+1 659 stars in 30 days).

## Details

- [deer-flow](https://selfhost.directory/project/deer-flow) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/deer-flow.md)
- [windmill](https://selfhost.directory/project/windmill) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/windmill.md)

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Source: https://selfhost.directory/compare/deer-flow-vs-windmill