head to head · open source
ansible vs atmos
ansible has 70,721 GitHub stars, 24,333 forks, 837 open issues and last shipped yesterday. atmos has 1,379 stars, 175 forks, 289 open issues and last shipped yesterday. ansible leads on adoption by 5,028% (70,721 vs 1,379 stars). ansible is written in Python under GPL-3.0; atmos is written in Go under Apache-2.0. ansible has attracted 34% as many forks as stars, atmos 13%. atmos was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| ansible | atmos | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 71K | ★ 1.4K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Python | Go |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 24K | ⑂ 175 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick ansible if
- You weight community size — 71K stars and counting
- You want the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick atmos if
- You want the atmos feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and atmos fits your workflow better
About ansible
Ansible is a radically simple, agentless IT automation platform, written in Python and licensed under GPL 3.0, that handles configuration management, application deployment, cloud provisioning, ad hoc task execution, network automation, and multi node orchestration for operators, developers, and network and cloud teams who manage machines over plain SSH.
read the full ansible overview →
About atmos
Atmos is the open source runtime for infrastructure — a Go based, Apache 2.0 licensed CLI that builds, authenticates, and ships Terraform, OpenTofu, Packer, Ansible, Kubernetes, Helm, and containers the same way on a laptop, in CI, and with AI agents, and it is aimed at the platform and DevOps teams who model cloud environments as declarative stacks and components.
read the full atmos overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is ansible or atmos more popular?
ansible has 70,721 GitHub stars and atmos has 1,379. ansible has the larger community by that measure.
Are ansible and atmos free?
Both are open source. ansible is licensed under GPL-3.0 and atmos under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between ansible and atmos?
ansible is written in Python and atmos in Go. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, ansible or atmos?
Choose ansible if you want the larger community (70,721 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose atmos if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.