head to head · open source
ansible vs atmos
ansible has 71,204 GitHub stars, 24,474 forks, 837 open issues and last shipped yesterday. atmos has 1,409 stars, 197 forks, 289 open issues and last shipped yesterday. ansible leads on adoption by 4,954% (71,204 vs 1,409 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 14%. 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 | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 24K | ⑂ 197 |
| 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
[ ][copying] Ansible Ansible is a radically simple IT automation system. It handles configuration management, application deployment, cloud provisioning, ad hoc task execution, network automation, and multi node orchestration. Ansible makes complex changes like zero downtime rolling updates with load balancers easy. More information on the Ansible website. Design Principles Have an extremely simple setup process with a minimal learning curve. Manage machines quickly and in parallel. Avoid custom agents and additional open ports, be agentless by leveraging the existing SSH daemon. Describe infrastructure in a…
read the full ansible overview →
About atmos
Run your infrastructure anywhere. Atmos is the open source runtime for infrastructure — it builds, authenticates, and ships Terraform, OpenTofu, Kubernetes, Helm, and containers the same way on your laptop, in CI, and with AI agents. Auth, secrets, vendoring, caching, the toolchain, workflows, and CI are built in. Point every environment at the same reusable root modules and treat the rest as configuration. Stop stringing together 25 tools. Run it on your laptop. Run it the same in CI. Run it with agents. Everything is open source and free. [!TIP] You can try out atmos directly in your browser using GitHub…
read the full atmos overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is ansible or atmos more popular?
ansible has 71,204 GitHub stars and atmos has 1,409. 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 (71,204 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.