Bee-Queue

Free plan APISelf-hosted

What Bee-Queue is

Bee-Queue is a free, open-source job and task queue for Node.js backed by Redis. It is designed for distributed worker pools and short, real-time jobs. Developers can create, save, and process jobs concurrently, with timeouts, retries, and custom retry strategies. Jobs may be scheduled for a specified time, while Pub/Sub events report progress and return results to the submitting producer. If a worker stalls, Bee-Queue retries the job to provide at-least-once delivery. The project describes Lua scripting and pipelining to reduce network overhead and Redis usage. Redis 2.8 or newer is required, with Redis 3.2 or newer recommended because earlier versions may delay some jobs. Package metadata requires Node.js 20 or newer. Arena provides a web interface for queue health, job details, filtering, stack traces, restarting, and retries. Bee-Queue uses the MIT License and is self-hosted.

Who it suits

Bee-Queue suits JavaScript developers building self-hosted worker pools and short asynchronous jobs. It is useful when Redis-backed scheduling, retries, progress events, and queue inspection are needed.

What it does well

Concurrent processing with timeouts and retry strategies
Scheduled jobs and Pub/Sub progress events
At-least-once delivery for stalled workers
Arena dashboard for queue health and job actions
MIT License permits modification and distribution

What to know first

Requires Redis 2.8 or newer
Node.js 20 or newer is required
No job prioritization support
No repeatable jobs support

Verdict

Bee-Queue provides core Redis-backed job processing for Node.js, including scheduling, retries, and event reporting. Its self-hosted setup and stated feature gaps matter when evaluating it for queue workloads.

Facts from Bee-Queue's own pages

Compatibility: The package metadata specifies Node.js version 20 or newer. · github.com, 9 Oct 2026
Dashboard: The README points to Arena for managing jobs and inspecting queue health; Arena's README describes it as a web GUI for Bee Queue, Bull, and BullMQ. · github.com, 10 Oct 2026
Dashboard features: Arena can show queue health, filter and paginate jobs, display job details and stack traces, and restart or retry jobs. · github.com, 10 Oct 2026
Delivery: Bee-Queue retries stuck jobs to provide at-least-once delivery. · github.com, 10 Oct 2026
Delivery behavior: Bee-Queue retries jobs whose workers stall to provide at-least-once delivery. · github.com, 9 Oct 2026
Events: Pub/Sub events support progress reporting and sending job results back to producers. · github.com, 10 Oct 2026
Feature limitation: The README says Bee-Queue does not currently support job prioritization or repeatable jobs. · github.com, 9 Oct 2026
Founded: 2015 · github.com, 28 Sept 2026
Integrations: Bee-Queue requires Redis 2.8 or newer; its README recommends Redis 3.2 or newer because some jobs may be delayed with earlier Redis versions. · github.com, 9 Oct 2026
Intended use: It is designed to power distributed worker pools and focuses on short, real-time jobs. · github.com, 10 Oct 2026
Job handling: It supports concurrent processing, job timeouts, retries, retry strategies, and scheduled jobs. · github.com, 10 Oct 2026
License: The repository includes an MIT license that grants permission to use, copy, modify, distribute, sublicense, and sell copies of the software. · github.com, 10 Oct 2026
Maker: The package metadata names Lewis J Ellis as the author. · github.com, 9 Oct 2026
Management interface: The README points to Arena as a web interface for managing jobs and inspecting queue health. · github.com, 9 Oct 2026
Notable limits: The README says Bee-Queue does not currently support job prioritization or repeatable jobs. · github.com, 10 Oct 2026
Performance: The README says Bee-Queue uses Lua scripting and pipelining to reduce network overhead and Redis usage. · github.com, 10 Oct 2026
Product: Bee-Queue is a job and task queue for Node.js backed by Redis. · github.com, 10 Oct 2026
Purpose: Bee-Queue is a job/task queue for Node.js, backed by Redis. · github.com, 9 Oct 2026
Requirements: The README says Redis 2.8 or later is required and recommends Redis 3.2 or later because of a delay issue with older versions. · github.com, 10 Oct 2026
Scheduling: Jobs can be scheduled to run after a specified time. · github.com, 9 Oct 2026
Security: The repository's Security and quality navigation shows 0. · github.com, 9 Oct 2026
Warranty: The MIT license provides the software “AS IS” without warranty. · github.com, 10 Oct 2026

Where Bee-Queue stands on Freedom251

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