Microsoft System Center Orchestrator vs Temporal comparison

Microsoft and Temporal Technologies are both solutions in the Process Automation category. Microsoft is ranked #18 with an average rating of 9.0, while Temporal Technologies is ranked #3 with an average rating of 8.6. Microsoft holds a 1.3% mindshare in PA, compared to Temporal Technologies’s 5.9% mindshare. Additionally, 33% of Microsoft users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 94% of Temporal Technologies users who would recommend it.

Microsoft System Center Orc...

Read 2 Microsoft System Center Orchestrator reviews

1,058 Views
1,058 Comparison Views

33% willing to recommend

Temporal

Read 18 Temporal reviews

2,773 Views
2,773 Comparison Views

94% willing to recommend

Microsoft System Center Orc...

Temporal

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 17, 2024

Microsoft System Center Orchestrator and Temporal are competing solutions in the workflow automation and management space. While Microsoft System Center Orchestrator is favorable in comprehensive enterprise environments due to its integration within the Microsoft ecosystem, Temporal has an edge in microservices applications with its modern architecture and scalability.

Features: Microsoft System Center Orchestrator is known for its integration within Microsoft products, providing enhanced automation for Windows environments, and offering robust monitoring tools. Temporal focuses on building durable, asynchronous workflows suitable for complex use cases through microservices. Its architecture delivers high scalability and fault tolerance.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Microsoft System Center Orchestrator features streamlined deployment through integration with Microsoft services, easing setup for existing Microsoft infrastructure, and benefits from Microsoft's global customer support. Temporal offers flexible deployment for cloud environments but may require more configuration expertise with active community support yet lacks the widespread infrastructure of Microsoft.

Pricing and ROI: Microsoft System Center Orchestrator generally incurs higher initial setup costs due to Microsoft licensing but presents predictable ROI in Microsoft-centric businesses. Temporal, often open-source, reduces initial costs and offers potential ROI for organizations seeking cost-effective workflow management with modern cloud-based agility, contrasting with Microsoft's traditional pricing against Temporal's flexibility in cost management.

To learn more, read our detailed Microsoft System Center Orchestrator vs. Temporal Report (Updated: December 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft System Center Orchestrator vs. Temporal

December 2025

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Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Categories and Ranking

Microsoft System Center Orc...

Ranking in Process Automation

18th

Average Rating

7.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Temporal

Ranking in Process Automation

3rd

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Process Automation category, the mindshare of Microsoft System Center Orchestrator is 1.3%, up from 0.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Temporal is 5.9%, up from 3.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Process Automation Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Temporal	5.9%
Microsoft System Center Orchestrator	1.3%
Other	92.8%

Process Automation

Featured Reviews

Dan Campeanu

Security Engineer at ProVision

Automates tasks and manages multiple servers from a central location

The initial setup was quite complex. It required careful preparation of installation steps, as many tasks were not automated as expected. Special attention was needed to prepare groups, users, and permissions at each step to ensure a smooth setup process. Please do so accurately to avoid having to start over. Challenges encountered during deployment included issues with installation and configuration and difficulties detecting machines and executing tasks as expected. Some solutions were found through trial and error during installation, while others were discovered through recommendations from other users. Despite these challenges, the deployment and rollout of Orchestrator took approximately one and a half months to ensure proper functionality.

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ManibabuPippalla

Founder & CEO at Lanzar

Automation streamlines operations and improves time and cost efficiency

My overall experience with Temporal is rated between 8 to 9, mainly due to a learning curve that only senior developers can navigate effectively, which makes it a bit challenging for junior developers. We don't have any instances of on-premise, so I cannot comment on that because we are a first company, with all services deployed on cloud infrastructure. Most of the integration is through RPC or APIs, ensuring all our systems are in cohesion. We do state persistence to a Postgres instance, and we have modified it to our use case with better indexing. And for fault tolerance, we built a queue and an alerting mechanism that notifies us if any workflows fail after specific failure points so we can act upon it. On a scale of 1-10, I rate Temporal an 8.

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Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"It can manage multiple servers and workstations from a single location."

"Automation is the most valuable feature of the solution."

"Temporal focus on developers rather than business users."

"What I like best about the tool is that it's easy to install, especially since it uses JavaScript. It's also easy to set up with Docker, and the documentation is easy to understand."

"The tool is easy for a beginner to learn. The documentation covers activities, workflows, workers, servers, and more. While more examples could be beneficial, the existing resources are good enough to help you get started. There are also YouTube videos available that can provide additional context. The Slack community for Temporal is very active and helpful, similar to Stack Overflow, where you can find answers to a wide range of questions from basic to advanced levels. If you have a unique question, the community is responsive and provides knowledgeable support."

"The ROI is apparent in terms of business case automation; previously, a bunch of people filled in data in NetSuite or managed stocks between warehouses and Amazon, but now everything is automated, saving time."

"When some jobs take a lot of time and fail midway, the solution’s retry feature automatically causes them to retry."

"The most valuable thing about Temporal is that we can create multiple and child workflows. We can segregate work as we want, which is good for work organization. It's also easy to maintain. We're trying to generate and fill PDF forms with custom data, including digital signatures. We call AWS and do all activities through Temporal, like calling and saving data in buckets. We do this because we have a lot of load, with multiple users requesting data. We have two types of users: admin and customer. The admin creates forms, and employees or customers fill them out. When admin gets a form, it's stored in Temporal."

"Temporal allows retryability for different workflows whenever they fail. It helps ensure idempotence and that things get done."

"The most valuable feature is its ability to manage and automate workflows without manual intervention efficiently."

More Temporal pros

Cons

"The product's management aspect needs enhancement."

"I find the Orchestrator UI to be problematic."

"There are areas where Temporal could improve. For instance, calling multiple microservices with Temporal introduces latency due to workflow registration and analytics overhead."

"One area for the product improvement is the learning curve."

"Configuring workflows can be improved —the solution could offer more options, but it's not a must-have."

"Sometimes it scales kind of badly, but it depends on the process of our products."

"I don't like the limitations on data flow, particularly the difficulty of passing large amounts of data between different activities."

"We previously faced issues with the solution's patch system."

"Developers often mention the desire for a more intuitive visualization of workflow states."

"Temporal images aren’t FIPS compliant, and we have to be FIPS compliant."

More Temporal cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I give the cost of the solution a five out of ten."

"We obtained a license that bundled Windows Server with System Center at no additional cost."

"Temporal is open-source and free to use, which is great. We didn't have to pay for any premium features."

"Temporal is a free, open-source tool."

"The savings weren't as big as we initially expected, but they were pretty great from a developer's perspective."

"The tool is open source under the MIT license, so there are no hidden fees. You can freely use everything on their GitHub and Docker images."

"It is worth the price."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

15%

Government

11%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Insurance Company

Financial Services Firm

29%

Computer Software Company

13%

Retailer

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	8
Midsize Enterprise	4
Large Enterprise	6

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Microsoft System Center Orchestrator?

It can manage multiple servers and workstations from a single location.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft System Center Orchestrator?

The platform was almost free of cost for us. We obtained a license that bundled Windows Server with System Center at no additional cost.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Microsoft System Center Orchestrator?

The product's management aspect needs enhancement. It affects the visibility of powerful scripts that were previously accessible. Furthermore, the focus is shifting towards cloud-based features, sp...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Temporal?

In terms of pricing, Camunda is indeed costlier than Temporal. The cloud deployment costs differ, and while Camunda 7 can be cheaper due to its integrated setup, comparing latest versions between T...

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What needs improvement with Temporal?

The only area for improvement in Temporal is the UI. I know it is a non-UI first product, but comparing Camunda versus Temporal UI, there is a difference. Moreover, n8n, being a no-code platform, i...

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What is your primary use case for Temporal?

The main purposes for using Temporal are automation flows, especially financial automations and supply chain automations. Our company name is SR, we are a digital-first CPG brand making company, ma...

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Comparisons

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Compared 11% of the time

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Camunda vs Temporal

Compared 42% of the time

Flowable vs Temporal

Compared 14% of the time

Orkes vs Temporal

Compared 12% of the time

Pega Platform vs Temporal

Compared 7% of the time

Control-M vs Temporal

Compared 4% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Process Automation

December 2025

Microsoft System Center Orchestrator report

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Buyer's Guide

Temporal

January 2026

Download Temporal product report

Also Known As

MS System Center Orchestrator

No data available

Overview

As an IT administrator, you probably perform a lot of tasks and procedures to keep your computing environment healthy. You may have automated individual tasks, but typically, not the whole process. With System Center - Orchestrator you tie disparate tasks and procedures together using a graphical user interface Runbook Designer to create reliable, flexible, and efficient end-to-end solutions in your IT environment.

Microsoft

Temporal automates and manages workflows efficiently, offering resilience in distributed systems with features like retry and fault tolerance. Its capabilities in handling complex workflows and integrating with programming languages make it a valuable tool for managing diverse business logic.

Temporal excels in workflow orchestration, automating tasks across multiple platforms, and ensuring durability in asynchronous operations. It supports long-running workflows and simplifies handling distributed transactions, reducing boilerplate code. Temporal is noted for its durable execution and built-in retry policies, enhancing resilience. Despite its complexity and steep learning curve, it is valued for its integration with popular programming languages and relatively easy setup process, though it requires improvements in user-friendly features, documentation, community support, and security.

What are Temporal's key features?

Automation and Efficient Management: Automatically handles workflows without manual intervention.
Resilience and Fault Tolerance: Features built-in retry policies for increased reliability.
Integration: Supports various programming languages, easing development.
Distributed Transactions: Simplifies complex transaction handling with reduced boilerplate code.
Durable Execution: Ensures long-running workflows are reliably managed.

What benefits or ROI should users evaluate?

Scalability and Reliability: Enhances IT environments through robust workflow management.
Ease of Integration: Supports seamless multi-platform automation.
Improved Operational Efficiency: Reduces need for extensive coding, streamlining processes.
Durability and Fault Tolerance: Provides reliable asynchronous operations.

Temporal is implemented in sectors requiring robust workflow orchestration, such as managing data pipelines, API integration, and scheduling tasks. Organizations in a Kubernetes environment leverage it for its scalability and infrastructure management capabilities, securing integrations and enhancing reliability across IT operations.

Temporal Technologies

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft System Center Orchestrator vs. Temporal

December 2025

Free Report: Microsoft System Center Orchestrator vs. Temporal

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