Evaluate Workflow Engine
Workflow Engine is an embeddable .NET library that adds workflow automation, business process approvals, document routing, task assignment, to any .NET application. It runs inside your process as a NuGet package; there is no separate server to manage. WorkflowRuntime persists all process state to your existing database. This page covers features, architecture, deployment modes, and how to evaluate the product.
How does Workflow Engine work?
WorkflowRuntime is the central object, it manages process state, evaluates rules, fires timers, and runs actions. You define a process as a scheme (XML or via the visual Designer), and WorkflowRuntime executes it.
Workflow Engine runs inside your ASP.NET Core or .NET application as a library. You can call WorkflowRuntime methods directly from C# code, or use the built-in HTTP API to access the same functionality over HTTP. WorkflowRuntime persists all state to your existing database through a swappable persistence provider (SQL Server, PostgreSQL, MySQL, Oracle, or MongoDB).
The Designer is a frontend component that embeds in your application (React, Angular, Blazor, or vanilla JS). End users create and modify workflow schemes through the Designer without touching code.
Workflow Engine supports two deployment modes: single-server mode runs all processing on one instance with no coordination overhead, while multi-server mode distributes process execution across multiple instances that share the same database. Both modes use WorkflowRuntime as an in-process library inside each application instance.
Multitenancy: serve multiple customers from one deployment
Workflow Engine supports multitenancy so a single deployment can serve multiple customers or business units with process data isolation. Two models are available: physical tenancy gives each tenant its own database and WorkflowRuntime instance, while logical tenancy uses a shared runtime and database with TenantId-column filtering. You can even combine both models in the same deployment - give a regulated client its own database while smaller clients share one with filtering. See the Multitenancy feature page for setup code and details.
Tested and stable: 10+ years of backward-compatible releases
Workflow Engine has shipped production releases for over 10 years with guaranteed backward compatibility across major versions. Schemes written for an earlier version continue to run on current releases without schema migration or code changes.
For teams building long-lived systems, backward compatibility reduces upgrade friction. A major version upgrade does not require rewriting process definitions or migrating the persistence schema. The guarantee covers the full version history - schemes from early versions run on the current release unchanged.
Who is this for?
- Developer or tech lead - start with Features, then Why Not Build Your Own.
- CEO or CTO - start with Features, then Editions.
- Product Manager - read Features and Editions in parallel with your technical team.
Try it free
Get a 30-day trial key at trial.workflowengine.io - no credit card required. The trial key unlocks all features for evaluation. See the License Key page for details.
Start using Workflow Engine
Install Workflow Engine via NuGet and run your first process instance in 15 minutes. Workflow Engine Free requires no license key and is suitable for evaluation and small projects.
When you are ready for production, request a commercial license to unlock clustering, scheme inlining, and unlimited process instances.
See also
Workflow Engine Features
Browse every feature with a one-sentence description of what it does.
Workflow Engine Editions
Edition comparison table with feature availability per license tier.
Multitenancy
Serve multiple customers or business units from a single deployment with data isolation.
Frequently asked questions
What is Workflow Engine?
Workflow Engine is an embeddable .NET library that adds workflow automation, approvals, document routing, task assignment, to any .NET application. It runs inside your process as a NuGet package; WorkflowRuntime manages all process state, rules, timers, and actions, and persists everything to your existing database.
Does Workflow Engine require a separate server to run?
No. Workflow Engine runs inside your ASP.NET Core or .NET application as a library. There is no external service, no agent process, and no sidecar. You initialize WorkflowRuntime once at startup, register it with your DI container, and call its methods directly from C#.
What databases does Workflow Engine support?
Workflow Engine ships persistence providers for SQL Server, PostgreSQL, MySQL, Oracle, and MongoDB. You select a provider at startup by registering the matching NuGet package, for example, WorkflowEngine.NETCore-ProviderForMSSQL for SQL Server or WorkflowEngine.NETCore-ProviderForPostgreSQL for PostgreSQL.
What is the difference between Free and Commercial editions?
Workflow Engine Free requires no license key and includes the full workflow engine with one runtime instance. Commercial editions (Enterprise, NEO, Ultimate) add clustering for multi-server deployments, scheme inlining, multitenancy, and unlimited process instances. See Workflow Engine Editions for a detailed comparison.
Is Workflow Engine backward compatible across major versions?
Yes. Workflow Engine guarantees backward compatibility across major versions. Schemes and persistence data from earlier versions continue to work on current releases without migration scripts or code changes.