head to head · open source
ansible vs Dagu
ansible has 71,204 GitHub stars, 24,474 forks, 837 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Dagu has 4,536 stars, 392 forks, 67 open issues and last shipped yesterday. ansible leads on adoption by 1,470% (71,204 vs 4,536 stars). ansible is written in Python under GPL-3.0; Dagu is written in Go under GPL-3.0. ansible has attracted 34% as many forks as stars, Dagu 9%. ansible 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 | Dagu | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 71K | ★ 4.5K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Python | Go |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 24K | ⑂ 392 |
| 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 Dagu if
- You want the Dagu feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and Dagu 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 Dagu
Docs · CLI · API · Examples · Live demo (username/password: demouser) · Discord Dagu Dagu is a local first workflow engine for operations and internal automation. It is open source and self hostable: a single binary with a built in Web UI, no external database or message broker, running on Linux, macOS, and Windows. Define DAGs in a declarative YAML format. It natively supports shell commands, Docker containers, Kubernetes Jobs, remote commands via SSH, and more through Dagu Actions. Dagu turns existing scripts and runbooks into production workflows with scheduling, retries, human tasks, and run history. It runs…
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Frequently asked questions
Is ansible or Dagu more popular?
ansible has 71,204 GitHub stars and Dagu has 4,536. ansible has the larger community by that measure.
Are ansible and Dagu free?
Both are open source. ansible is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Dagu under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between ansible and Dagu?
ansible is written in Python and Dagu 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 Dagu?
Choose ansible if you want the larger community (71,204 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose Dagu if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.