Can you self-host Windmill for free in 2026?
Quick Answer: Yes. As of April 2026, Windmill Community Edition is free under AGPL and can be self-hosted on any Docker or Kubernetes infrastructure. Enterprise Edition (SSO, audit logs, high-throughput workers) requires a paid license starting around $20 per worker per month.
Self-Hosting Windmill Free
Windmill is open source. The Community Edition (CE) is licensed under AGPL and can be deployed at no software cost.
What CE Includes
- Scripts in TypeScript, Python, Bash, Go, PowerShell, and SQL
- Visual flow builder with branching, loops, and approval steps
- Apps (internal tooling) builder
- REST/webhook triggers and cron schedules
- Single-tenant Postgres backend
- Multi-worker scaling (with worker tags)
Real Costs of Self-Hosting CE
While the software is free, production setups incur:
- Compute — A small VM ($10-20/month) covers light use; larger fleets scale linearly
- Postgres — A managed Postgres or self-hosted DB
- Operations — Upgrades, monitoring, backups
When Enterprise Edition Is Required
EE is necessary for:
- SSO/SAML/OIDC for centralized auth
- Audit logs for compliance
- High-throughput dedicated workers
- 24/7 commercial support contracts
EE pricing is custom; published reference pricing as of April 2026 is around $20 per worker per month.
Free Cloud Alternative
Windmill Cloud also offers a free tier with limited monthly executions, which works for evaluation or very light production use without infrastructure overhead.