# Mainsail vs prefect

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

| | Mainsail | prefect |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 65/100 | 80/100 ✓ |
| Rank in category | #3 of 22 in 3D Printing | #4 of 32 in Workflow Automation |
| GitHub stars | 2 236 | 24 100 ✓ |
| Stars, last 30 days | +19 | +179 ✓ |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 8 | 17 ✓ |
| Latest release | v2.19.0 · 27 Aug 2026 | 2.20.27 · 23 Oct 2026 ✓ |
| Setup | Moderate | Moderate ✓ |
| Official Docker image | Yes | Yes |
| License | GPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Main language | Vue | Python |

## Which one should you pick?

prefect scores 80/100 against 65/100 for Mainsail, so it is the safer default.

prefect ships more often: 17 stable releases in the past year, against 8 for Mainsail.

prefect is growing faster right now (+179 stars in 30 days).

## Details

- [Mainsail](https://selfhost.directory/project/mainsail) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/mainsail.md)
- [prefect](https://selfhost.directory/project/prefect) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/prefect.md)

## Related comparisons

- [Kestra vs prefect](https://selfhost.directory/compare/kestra-vs-prefect)

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Source: https://selfhost.directory/compare/mainsail-vs-prefect