Agenda vs Hi.Events
| Tagline | Node.js job scheduling library with persistent MongoDB-backed queue | Self-hosted event management and ticketing for any scale |
| Category | Scheduling & Booking | Scheduling & Booking |
| Replaces | Calendly | Calendly, Acuity Scheduling |
| GitHub stars | 9.7k | 3.9k |
| Language | TypeScript | Docker |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Self-host difficulty | 3/5 Moderate | 3/5 Moderate |
| Deploy options | Manual Docker | Docker Docker Compose Manual |
| Managed hosting | ||
| Last updated | 12 days ago | 7 days ago |
| View repo | View repo |
Where each falls short
The honest trade-offs — what you give up with each, versus the proprietary tools they replace.
Agenda
- Library only — no UI for managing or viewing scheduled jobs without additional tooling
- Requires MongoDB; not suitable for simple SQLite/Postgres-only stacks
- No native support for distributed locking at high scale
Hi.Events
- Payment gateway support is limited to Stripe; no PayPal or regional gateways out of the box
- No recurring event / subscription ticketing support
- Email marketing and attendee re-engagement tools are minimal
- Mobile check-in app is not available; badge printing requires third-party tools
Bottom line
Both are a similar lift to self-host; choose Agenda for the larger community and ecosystem. Hi.Events has seen more recent development. Open each guide below for deploy steps and the full feature gap.