Is WorkflowForge faster than Elsa Workflows?

Yes. Same BenchmarkDotNet suite we publish: 64x to 511x by scenario; state machines are the worst case for Elsa. We're in microseconds; Elsa sits in milliseconds on comparable hardware.

Does WorkflowForge have a visual workflow designer like Elsa?

No. Code-first only. Elsa Studio wins if analysts or PMs need to edit flows without touching C#.

Can I migrate from Elsa to WorkflowForge?

No auto-migrator. Treat it like a rewrite: map Elsa activities to WorkflowForge operations; business logic in each step usually moves over. WorkflowForge gives you compensation as a first-class concept.

WorkflowForge vs Elsa Workflows: .NET Workflow Engine Comparison

I built WorkflowForge, so take this comparison with that bias. I’ve tried to be fair about where Elsa wins.

Two very different bets. WorkflowForge keeps the engine thin and fast: code-only, zero dependencies, compensation baked in. Elsa gives you a designer, built-in persistence, and a broader activity ecosystem. Which trade-off hurts less depends on your team.

All benchmark numbers come from BenchmarkDotNet, 50 iterations per scenario.

At a Glance

Dimension	WorkflowForge	Elsa Workflows
Approach	Code-first, C# API	Visual designer + code
Core dependencies	Zero	Multiple (EF Core, MediatR, etc.)
Execution speed	Microseconds	Milliseconds
Memory baseline	3.49 KB	1,032 KB
Package count	13 (modular extensions)	Monolithic + modules
License	MIT	MIT
Compensation/Saga	Built-in	Via custom activities
Visual designer	No	Yes (Elsa Studio)
Workflow persistence	Extension package	Built-in
Target user	.NET developers	Developers + business users
Current release	v2.1.1 (2026)	v3.6.0 (March 2026)

Performance Benchmarks

All numbers from BenchmarkDotNet v0.15.8, .NET 8.0.23, Intel i7-1185G7, 50 iterations.

Execution Time

Scenario	WorkflowForge	Elsa	Advantage
Sequential (10 ops)	247 us	17,617 us	71x
Data Passing (10 ops)	262 us	18,222 us	70x
Conditional (10 ops)	266 us	21,333 us	80x
Loop (50 items)	497 us	64,171 us	129x
Concurrent (8 workers)	356 us	94,018 us	264x
Error Handling	111 us	7,150 us	64x
Creation Overhead	13 us	2,107 us	162x
State Machine (25 transitions)	68 us	36,695 us	511x
Parallel (16 ops)	55 us	20,891 us	380x

Sequential stuff is 70x. State machines hit 511x. The more branching and internal bookkeeping a scenario demands, the wider the gap gets.

Memory Allocation

Scenario	WorkflowForge	Elsa	Advantage
Sequential (10 ops)	16.31 KB	2,984 KB	183x
State Machine (25)	20.92 KB	5,949 KB	284x
Concurrent (8 workers)	121 KB	19,139 KB	158x
Parallel (16 ops)	8.1 KB	4,647 KB	573x
Minimal Baseline	3.49 KB	1,032 KB	296x

WorkflowForge stays in kilobytes. Elsa lands in megabytes. Parallel (16 ops) is the extreme case: 8.1 KB vs 4,647 KB.

Architecture Differences

WorkflowForge has zero core dependencies. The main NuGet package pulls in nothing. DI, Polly, Serilog, OpenTelemetry are separate extension packages you add when you need them. ILRepack internalizes anything that is bundled, so no version conflicts with your project. Compensation is built in: every operation can declare its own rollback.

Elsa is a heavier stack: EF Core, MediatR, UI packages. That weight buys you persistence (SQL, Mongo, etc.), versioning, and Elsa Studio, a visual designer where non-developers can build and edit workflows. The activity model is geared toward long-running, human-in-the-loop processes.

API Comparison

Defining a Workflow

WorkflowForge:

var workflow = WorkflowForge.CreateWorkflow("OrderProcess")
    .AddOperations(
        new ValidateOrder(),
        new ChargePayment(),
        new ShipOrder()
    )
    .Build();

using var smith = WorkflowForge.CreateSmith();
await smith.ForgeAsync(workflow);

Elsa:

public class OrderWorkflow : WorkflowBase
{
    protected override void Build(IWorkflowBuilder builder)
    {
        builder
            .StartWith<ValidateOrder>()
            .Then<ChargePayment>()
            .Then<ShipOrder>();
    }
}

WorkflowForge builds inline, no class per workflow. Elsa needs a class that inherits WorkflowBase, which is how its designer and persistence wire things up.

When to Pick Which

WorkflowForge fits when latency and memory matter for real (containers, tight SLAs, high-throughput pipelines). Your team writes C# and nobody needs a drag-and-drop designer. You want compensation baked in rather than bolted on.

Elsa fits when non-developers need to change flows. Elsa Studio is the reason to pick it. Persistence and versioning ship in the box. Long-running, human-in-the-loop processes are the primary use case. The broader activity catalogue saves you writing custom code.

Resources

Resource	WorkflowForge	Elsa
GitHub	animatlabs/workflow-forge	elsa-workflows/elsa-core
NuGet	WorkflowForge	Elsa
Docs	animatlabs.com/workflow-forge	v3.elsa-workflows.io

Animesh Agarwal