Alternatives / Amazon SQS
Looking for an open source Amazon SQS alternative? We compared 3 open source tools for queues and background work by license, durability, and maintenance. Trigger.dev and Hatchet are task orchestrators, while Sequin provides queue-style messaging on Postgres.
Written by Maxime DERAME
Last updated:
| Alternative | Best for | License |
|---|---|---|
| Trigger.dev | TypeScript background jobs and agents | Apache-2.0 |
| Hatchet | Durable task orchestration | MIT |
| Sequin | Postgres-backed queue over HTTP | MIT |
We looked for open-source tools that decouple work with queues and retries like SQS. We verified each project's license, recent activity, stars, and self-hosting in its repository. See our methodology for the full criteria.
Trigger.dev is a TypeScript platform for background jobs and AI agents with retries, queues, and run logs. Hatchet is an MIT durable orchestration platform with SDKs for Python, TypeScript, Go, and Ruby, designed for millions of parallel tasks.
Sequin is a messaging system on Postgres that offers queue-style features through an HTTP API. Its last commit was in February 2026.
None of these speaks the SQS API, so you must change your producers and consumers. They are heavier than a simple queue if you only need basic messaging.
Trigger.dev is Apache-2.0. Hatchet and Sequin are MIT.
Trigger.dev and Hatchet had commits within days of this update.
SQS is a proprietary AWS service billed per request, which ties your architecture to AWS. Open-source alternatives run anywhere and add richer workflow features, but you operate them yourself.
Trigger.dev is an Apache-2.0 platform for long-running tasks and AI agents written in TypeScript, with retries, scheduling, and full run logs. It is usage-priced as a managed platform, and self-hosting is possible.
Pricing: Free to self-host; the managed platform is usage-based.
Hatchet is an MIT-licensed orchestration platform for running background tasks, durable workflows, and AI agents, with queues, scheduling, and observability. It is not a UI builder: it targets workflow and task execution for developers.
Pricing: Free to self-host; Hatchet Cloud is paid.
Sequin is an MIT open-source messaging system built on Postgres that offers queue-style features through a simple HTTP API. It reduces stack complexity by reusing Postgres, which is also the trade-off, since Postgres becomes the messaging backbone. The last commit was in February 2026.
Pricing: Free to self-host.
| Alternative | Type | License | Self-hosted | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trigger.dev | Task platform | Apache-2.0 | Yes | TypeScript teams |
| Hatchet | Task orchestration | MIT | Yes | Parallel background work |
| Sequin | Message queue | MIT | Yes | Simple queues |
Want durable background tasks
Hatchet stores an event log and handles retries and monitoring under MIT.
Want TypeScript jobs with logs and replay
Trigger.dev offers retries, run logs, and replay of failed runs.
Want a simple queue on Postgres
Sequin offers queue-style messaging through an HTTP API.