Dagu vs Stoneforge: Which is Better in 2026?
A comprehensive comparison of Dagu and Stoneforge covering features, pricing, use cases, and which tool is the right choice for your needs.
⚡ Quick Verdict
Choose Dagu if:
- →You want more affordable paid plans (from $50/mo)
- →You need declarative yaml workflows with dependencies, cron schedules and retry policies or single binary with no external database or framework
Choose Stoneforge if:
- →You need a broader feature set (7 features vs 6)
- →You need every worker agent runs in an isolated git worktree, eliminating cross-agent merge conflicts or merge steward role reviews ci status and resolves conflicts before integrating to main
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Dagu vs Stoneforge: At a Glance
Pricing Comparison: Dagu vs Stoneforge
Understanding the pricing differences between Dagu and Stoneforge is crucial for making the right choice. Here's how their plans compare side by side.
💡 Pricing takeaway: Both Dagu and Stoneforge offer free tiers, making it easy to try before you buy. Compare the specific plans to find the best value for your use case.
Feature-by-Feature Comparison
Here's how every feature from Dagu and Stoneforge stacks up.
What Makes Each Tool Unique
🔵 Unique to Dagu
Features available in Dagu but not in Stoneforge:
- ✓Declarative YAML workflows with dependencies, cron schedules and retry policies
- ✓Single binary with no external database or framework
- ✓Web UI with DAG visualisation and approvals
- ✓Docker, SSH and HTTP executors
- ✓Installs on Linux, macOS, Windows, Docker and Kubernetes
- ✓Paid licences add SSO, RBAC, audit logging and incident routing, not features
🟣 Unique to Stoneforge
Features available in Stoneforge but not in Dagu:
- ✓Every worker agent runs in an isolated git worktree, eliminating cross-agent merge conflicts
- ✓Merge steward role reviews CI status and resolves conflicts before integrating to main
- ✓Dependency-aware dispatch daemon auto-assigns ready tasks to idle workers
- ✓Real-time web dashboard showing active agents, tasks, merge requests, and completions
- ✓Director / Worker / Steward role split instead of a flat pool of identical agents
- ✓GitHub, Linear, and Notion sync for the task board
- ✓Works with Claude Code, Codex, and OpenCode
Use Case Recommendations
Best for: Dagu
Dagu is a local-first workflow orchestrator built for teams whose main work is not orchestration — the explicit alternative to standing up Airflow when what you need is a handful of scheduled scripts that retry properly and tell you when they fail. Workflows are declarative YAML with steps, dependencies, cron schedules, retry policies, approvals and logs, and the whole thing ships as a single open-source binary with a web UI and DAG visualisation. There is no external database and no framework to adopt: your existing scripts, containers and AI agents stay exactly as they are and Dagu runs them. It installs on Linux, macOS, Windows, Docker and Kubernetes via a script installer, Homebrew, npm or a container image, and the quickstart gets a two-step workflow running from the web UI in a few minutes. Executors cover Docker, SSH and HTTP. The licensing split is clean and worth understanding before adoption: the core engine is GPLv3 and free forever with unlimited servers, unlimited workers, full automation and monitoring, the web UI and up to two API keys. Paid self-host licences do not gate workflow features — they add the enterprise controls that a compliance review asks for, namely SSO via OIDC, role-based access control, audit logging, incident routing and standard email support, and are counted per server with workers unlimited. A live demo is available with published demo credentials.
Ideal use cases:
- •Teams or individuals who need declarative yaml workflows with dependencies, cron schedules and retry policies
- •Teams or individuals who need single binary with no external database or framework
- •Teams or individuals who need web ui with dag visualisation and approvals
- •Teams or individuals who need docker, ssh and http executors
- •Anyone focused on workflow-orchestration workflows
- •Anyone focused on airflow-alternative workflows
Best for: Stoneforge
Stoneforge is an open-source orchestration layer for running several AI coding agents at once on the same repository. The failure mode it targets is specific: once you have more than one Claude Code, Codex, or OpenCode session working on a project, they edit the same files on the same branch, two of them grab the same task, and you cannot see what any of them is doing without tabbing through terminals. Stoneforge fixes each of those in turn. Every worker agent runs inside its own isolated git worktree, so agents never collide on the filesystem, and a merge steward handles integration back to main — reviewing CI status and resolving conflicts as a separate role rather than leaving it to whichever agent finished first. A dispatch daemon tracks task priorities and dependencies and auto-assigns ready work to idle workers, so nothing gets double-claimed and nothing starts while it is still blocked. Over the top sits a real-time web dashboard at localhost:3457 that shows active agents, tasks in progress, merge requests awaiting review, and recent completions in one view, with a command palette for driving the whole thing. Roles are explicit — Director agents execute plans, Workers implement, Stewards review and merge — and recent versions added GitHub, Linear, and Notion sync so the task board can mirror the tracker a team already uses.
Ideal use cases:
- •Teams or individuals who need every worker agent runs in an isolated git worktree, eliminating cross-agent merge conflicts
- •Teams or individuals who need merge steward role reviews ci status and resolves conflicts before integrating to main
- •Teams or individuals who need dependency-aware dispatch daemon auto-assigns ready tasks to idle workers
- •Teams or individuals who need real-time web dashboard showing active agents, tasks, merge requests, and completions
- •Anyone focused on ai-agents workflows
- •Anyone focused on coding-agents workflows
💻 Other Coding & Development Tools to Consider
Dagu and Stoneforge aren't the only options. Here are other popular tools in the same space:
Cursor
AI-first code editor with powerful inline generation
GitHub Copilot
AI pair programmer for code suggestions
Windsurf
AI-native IDE with autonomous coding agents
v0
Generate React UI components from text prompts
Bolt
AI full-stack app builder with instant preview
Devin
Autonomous AI software engineer for full projects
Is one of these your tool?
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Frequently Asked Questions
Is Dagu better than Stoneforge?
It depends on your needs. Dagu offers 6 key features including Declarative YAML workflows with dependencies, cron schedules and retry policies and Single binary with no external database or framework, while Stoneforge provides 7 features including Every worker agent runs in an isolated git worktree, eliminating cross-agent merge conflicts and Merge steward role reviews CI status and resolves conflicts before integrating to main. Dagu uses a open-source model with a free tier, while Stoneforge is free with free access available. Choose based on which features and pricing model align with your requirements.
Is Dagu cheaper than Stoneforge?
Stoneforge doesn't have standard paid plans, while Dagu starts at $50/month. Both tools offer free tiers, so you can try each before committing. Always check the official websites for the most current pricing.
Can I use Dagu and Stoneforge together?
Yes, many users combine Dagu and Stoneforge in their workflow. Dagu excels at declarative yaml workflows with dependencies, cron schedules and retry policies, while Stoneforge shines with every worker agent runs in an isolated git worktree, eliminating cross-agent merge conflicts. Using both allows you to leverage the strengths of each tool, though this means managing two subscriptions — though free tiers can help manage costs.
What's the main difference between Dagu and Stoneforge?
While both are coding & development tools, Dagu emphasizes declarative yaml workflows with dependencies, cron schedules and retry policies, whereas Stoneforge is known for every worker agent runs in an isolated git worktree, eliminating cross-agent merge conflicts. The best choice depends on your specific workflow and feature priorities.
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