Bullpane vs QueueDash
Checked against QueueDash 3.20 on npm and its v4 main branch on 27 September 2026 · Other comparisons: bull-board · Taskforce.sh
QueueDash is a good-looking, MIT-licensed queue UI that speaks several Node queue libraries and drops into the server or Next.js app you already have. Bullpane does one thing: BullMQ and BullMQ Pro, as a standalone container, with every read bounded so it is safe on a busy production Redis, and a Pro edition for teams that need individual accounts, roles and a record of who did what.
Short answer. Pick QueueDash if you run Bee-Queue, GroupMQ or Bull alongside BullMQ, or want the UI embedded in your Next.js or Hono app. Pick Bullpane if you are on BullMQ or BullMQ Pro, your Redis is busy or your payloads are large, or several people operate the queues and each needs their own login and role.
Side by side
| Bullpanestandalone container | QueueDashembedded or Docker | |
|---|---|---|
| License | MIT core, Pro source-available | MIT |
| BullMQ | ✓4, 5, 6 on Redis, Cluster, Valkey; 6 on Postgres | ✓5.60+ and 6 |
| Bull, Bee-Queue, GroupMQ | – | ✓ |
| BullMQ Pro groups | ✓per-group status, concurrency, rate limit | –not documented |
| Embeds in Express / Fastify / Hono / Next.js | –separate container | ✓ |
| Queue discovery by scanning Redis | ✓bounded SCAN, cached | ✓Bull and BullMQ |
| Search inside job data | ✓whole state, bounded and resumable | ✓one status, stops after 5,000 jobs |
| Payload truncated inside Redis before it is sent | ✓ | –not documented |
| Flows, schedulers, logs, bulk actions | ✓ | ✓ |
| Login | Profree has none | ✓one shared login, v4 (not on npm yet) |
| Read-only or hidden queues | ✓global read-only, hidden queues · Pro: per-role | ✓per queue, v4 |
| Redact fields before they reach the browser | – | ✓v4 |
| Individual user accounts & roles | Pro | –self-hosted; cloud has roles |
| SSO (OIDC, SAML 2.0) | Pro | –cloud Enterprise only |
| Alerts | ProSlack, webhook | –self-hosted; cloud from $29/mo |
| Audit log | Proin your database, CSV | –self-hosted; cloud advertises one |
| Price | Free · Pro $39/mo or $390/yr per installation, unlimited users | Free self-hosted · Cloud $29 / $99 per month, by jobs and members |
Where QueueDash is the better choice
- More than BullMQ. Bull 3/4, Bee-Queue and GroupMQ in the same UI. If your stack mixes them, Bullpane only covers the BullMQ part.
- It embeds. An Express middleware, a Fastify plugin, a Hono adapter, Elysia, or a React component for your Next.js app. Bullpane is always a separate container (SQLite built in, MySQL optional).
- Field redaction. The v4 branch can strip fields from job data before they reach the browser. Bullpane truncates payloads for speed but does not redact them.
- Per-queue access rules without a subscription. v4 can make each queue full, read-only or hidden and deny single actions, enforced on the server. Bullpane's free edition has one global read-only switch; per-user permissions are Pro.
The login, access rules and redaction above are on QueueDash's main branch, not in the 3.20 release on npm, as of the date at the top of this page.
Where Bullpane goes further
Built for BullMQ Pro
If you pay for BullMQ Pro, groups are the reason. Bullpane shows each group in Pro's own vocabulary (waiting, limited, maxed, paused), with jobs waiting and how many are prioritized, active jobs against the concurrency cap, the rate limit, and when a limited group comes back into rotation. QueueDash documents GroupMQ groups, a different library, and does not mention BullMQ Pro.
Reads that stay cheap on a busy Redis
Bullpane never runs KEYS, reads each page with one Lua round trip, and truncates payloads inside Redis before they are sent, so a page of 200 jobs with 1 MB payloads answers in 7 ms. Search walks the whole state in bounded slices with a cursor, so it neither blocks Redis nor gives up at a fixed count; QueueDash's search covers one status and stops after 5,000 jobs. The read rules and a hostile-load test are public in STRESS-TEST.md.
Everyone logs in as themselves
QueueDash's own README describes its login as “one shared login, not user accounts, roles, or SSO”. That is fine for a small team; it stops being fine the day someone obliterates a queue and you need to know who. Bullpane Pro has individual accounts, admin/operator/viewer roles on every API call, SSO over OIDC and SAML 2.0, and an append-only audit log with actor, target and IP, all self-hosted. QueueDash sells roles, alerts and SSO in its hosted cloud, which receives job events from an SDK in your app.
Price
QueueDash self-hosted is free. Its cloud is USD 29/month (100K jobs, 10 members) or USD 99/month (1M jobs, 50 members), with SSO on a custom Enterprise plan. Bullpane's free edition is free with no login; Pro is USD 39/month or USD 390/year per installation, with unlimited users, connections and jobs, running entirely in your network.
Try it on your own queues
Bullpane needs nothing from your code: start the container, add your Redis URL and prefix, and it finds the queues. Use BULLPANE_READ_ONLY=true for the first days.
Install the free edition See Pro pricing
Sources
- QueueDash on GitHub: README on main (v4) and the 3.20 release
- QueueDash cloud pricing
- Bullpane on GitHub
Something here out of date? Write to hello@bullpane.com and it gets fixed.