Side by side

Agenda vs beanstalkd

Both stand on task queue software. Which one you can start free with, which one lets you read the code, and what each costs once you pay.

Agenda

Free plan API

Choose Agenda if you need a self-hosted Node.js job scheduler with configurable execution and a choice of storage backends. Its free MIT license and TypeScript support may suit developer-managed projects. Look elsewhere if a dead-letter queue is a requirement or you need a hosted scheduler.

Visit Agenda

beanstalkd

Free plan LinuxMacSelf-hosted

Beanstalkd provides a straightforward queue model with tubes, blocking reservations, and optional binlog recovery. It is a free self-hosted choice for supported systems, with clients available across many languages.

Visit beanstalkd

The facts

	Agenda	beanstalkd
Free plan	Yes	Yes
Open source	Not published	Not published
Runs on	API	Linux, Mac, Self-hosted
Lowest paid plan	Free or on request	Free or on request
Plans published	1	1
Maker	Not published	Not published
Website	agenda.github.io	beanstalkd.github.io
On task queue software	#10 of 37	#6 of 37

Agenda: what it does well

Free and MIT licensed.
Schedules jobs with cron or human-readable time syntax.
Supports MongoDB, PostgreSQL, Redis, and custom storage backends.
Offers configurable concurrency, locking, and custom retry policies.
Can run workers in sandboxed fork mode.

What to know first

Requires Node.js 18 or later.
Requires a database such as MongoDB 4+, PostgreSQL, or Redis.
The official MongoDB backend uses polling only.
It does not provide a dead-letter queue.

beanstalkd: what it does well

Free and MIT-licensed.
Binlog can recover jobs after a restart.
Separate tubes provide independent queues.
Clients can use multiple servers.
Client libraries cover many languages.

What to know first

Each server does not know about other instances.
Listed Linux support starts at version 2.6.17.
Bug reports go to a mailing list.

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