Best Task Queue Software in 2026
Updated
In short: IronWorker is ranked #1 of 37 as of 4 October 2026, ahead of Faktory and River. The best-ranked option with a free plan is Faktory. The lowest first paid tier on this page is Trigger.dev at $10/mo.
A task queue lets an application hand off work to be processed beyond the immediate request. Compare deployment model, official SDK languages and maximum payload size to see how options align with your stack and workload. Custom retry policy, dead-letter queue and scheduled jobs are further criteria for handling failed or later-running work. Free-plan availability and paid-from pricing are listed too. Taskiq and BullMQ lead the ranking, with pg-boss and Faktory among the early entries. Use the ranked order and published details to compare queue behavior, deployment choices and SDK support for your application.
37 task queue software ranked on what their makers publish — plans and prices, free tiers, platforms and the facts on their own pages.
#1 IronWorker Top pick · 7.8 Free plan · $169/mo
#2 Faktory Runner-up · 7.2 Free plan · $99/mo
#3 River Also great · 7.1 Free plan · $125/mo- Free planFree trial apiLinuxself-hostedWebWindows
- Free plan
- Yes
- Paid from
- 169 /mo
- Deployment model
- hybrid
- Custom retry policy
- Yes
- Scheduled jobs
- Yes
RecognisedDocumentedFree planFree trialPlatforms$169/mofirst paid tier About IronWorkerVisit site - Free plan LinuxmacOSself-hostedWeb
- Free plan
- Yes
- Paid from
- 299 /mo
- Deployment model
- self_hosted
- Custom retry policy
- Yes
- Scheduled jobs
- Yes
- Dead-letter queue
- Yes
RecognisedDocumentedFree planFree trialPlatforms$99/mofirst paid tier About FaktoryVisit site - Free plan self-hostedWeb
- Free plan
- Yes
- Paid from
- 125 /mo
- Deployment model
- self_hosted
- Custom retry policy
- Yes
- Scheduled jobs
- Yes
- Dead-letter queue
- Yes
RecognisedDocumentedFree planFree trialPlatforms$125/mofirst paid tier About RiverVisit site - Free plan apiLinuxself-hostedWeb
- Free plan
- Yes
- Deployment model
- self_hosted
- Custom retry policy
- Yes
- Scheduled jobs
- Yes
- Dead-letter queue
- Yes
RecognisedDocumentedFree planFree trialPlatforms - Free plan apiself-hostedWeb
- Free plan
- Yes
- Paid from
- 10 /mo
RecognisedDocumentedFree planFree trialPlatforms$10/mofirst paid tier About Trigger.devVisit site - Free plan apiLinuxself-hostedWeb
- Free plan
- Yes
- Paid from
- 99 /mo
RecognisedDocumentedFree planFree trialPlatforms$99/mofirst paid tier About InngestVisit site - Free plan apiLinuxmacOSself-hosted
- Deployment model
- self_hosted
- Custom retry policy
- Yes
- Scheduled jobs
- Yes
- Dead-letter queue
- Yes
RecognisedDocumentedFree planFree trialPlatforms - Free plan apiself-hosted
- Free plan
- Yes
- Paid from
- 99 /mo
- Deployment model
- self_hosted
- Custom retry policy
- Yes
- Scheduled jobs
- Yes
- Dead-letter queue
- Yes
RecognisedDocumentedFree planFree trialPlatforms$82.92/mofirst paid tier About SidekiqVisit site - LinuxmacOSself-hostedWindows
- Free plan
- Yes
- Deployment model
- self_hosted
- Custom retry policy
- Yes
- Scheduled jobs
- Yes
- Dead-letter queue
- Yes
RecognisedDocumentedFree planFree trialPlatforms - Linuxself-hostedWindows
- Deployment model
- self_hosted
- Custom retry policy
- Yes
- Scheduled jobs
- Yes
- Dead-letter queue
- Yes
RecognisedDocumentedFree planFree trialPlatforms - self-hosted
- Free plan
- Yes
- Paid from
- 139 /mo
- Deployment model
- self_hosted
- Custom retry policy
- Yes
- Scheduled jobs
- Yes
- Dead-letter queue
- Yes
RecognisedDocumentedFree planFree trialPlatforms$116.25/mofirst paid tier About BullMQVisit site - AndroidiOSWeb
- Free plan
- Yes
RecognisedDocumentedFree planFree trialPlatforms - LinuxmacOSWindows
- Deployment model
- self_hosted
- Custom retry policy
- Yes
- Scheduled jobs
- Yes
- Dead-letter queue
- No
RecognisedDocumentedFree planFree trialPlatforms - WebLinuxWindowsmacOS
- Deployment model
- self_hosted
- Custom retry policy
- Yes
- Scheduled jobs
- Yes
RecognisedDocumentedFree planFree trialPlatforms - WindowsmacOSLinux
- Deployment model
- self_hosted
- Custom retry policy
- Yes
- Scheduled jobs
- Yes
RecognisedDocumentedFree planFree trialPlatforms - WebLinuxmacOS
- Deployment model
- self_hosted
- Custom retry policy
- Yes
- Scheduled jobs
- Yes
RecognisedDocumentedFree planFree trialPlatforms - Linux
- Free plan
- Yes
- Deployment model
- self_hosted
- Custom retry policy
- Yes
- Scheduled jobs
- No
RecognisedDocumentedFree planFree trialPlatforms - WebWindows
- Free plan
- Yes
- Deployment model
- self_hosted
- Custom retry policy
- Yes
- Scheduled jobs
- Yes
RecognisedDocumentedFree planFree trialPlatforms - WindowsmacOSLinux
- Deployment model
- self_hosted
- Custom retry policy
- Yes
- Scheduled jobs
- Yes
RecognisedDocumentedFree planFree trialPlatforms - Web
- Free plan
- Yes
- Deployment model
- self_hosted
- Custom retry policy
- Yes
- Scheduled jobs
- Yes
RecognisedDocumentedFree planFree trialPlatforms -
- Free plan
- Yes
- Deployment model
- self_hosted
- Custom retry policy
- Yes
- Scheduled jobs
- Yes
- Dead-letter queue
- No
RecognisedDocumentedFree planFree trialPlatforms - Linux
- Deployment model
- self_hosted
- Custom retry policy
- Yes
- Scheduled jobs
- Yes
RecognisedDocumentedFree planFree trialPlatforms -
- Deployment model
- self_hosted
- Custom retry policy
- Yes
- Scheduled jobs
- Yes
RecognisedDocumentedFree planFree trialPlatforms - Web
- Free plan
- Yes
- Deployment model
- hybrid
RecognisedDocumentedFree planFree trialPlatforms -
- Free plan
- Yes
- Deployment model
- self_hosted
- Custom retry policy
- Yes
- Scheduled jobs
- Yes
RecognisedDocumentedFree planFree trialPlatforms
Is your platform on this list?
Numbered spots on this list can be sponsored. They are labelled, and the editorial order and scores never change for payment.
Questions about this list
Which task queue software is ranked first on The Geeks Club?
IronWorker is ranked #1 of 37 with a score of 7.8. Faktory is second and River third.
How many of these have a free plan?
8 of the 25 on this page publish a free plan on their own pricing pages.
Which is the cheapest paid option?
On this page, Trigger.dev has the lowest first paid tier we found: $10/mo.
How is this list ranked?
Ranked on how quickly a newcomer can get going: documentation depth, a free tier or trial, and the platforms it runs on. Paid placements never change a rank.