head to head · open source
ansible vs devops-basics
ansible has 71,204 GitHub stars, 24,474 forks, 837 open issues and last shipped yesterday. devops-basics has 1,875 stars, 213 forks, 4 open issues and last shipped 2 months ago. ansible leads on adoption by 3,698% (71,204 vs 1,875 stars). ansible is written in Python under GPL-3.0; devops-basics is written in Shell under Apache-2.0. ansible has attracted 34% as many forks as stars, devops-basics 11%. ansible was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (ansible), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
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 | devops-basics | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 71K | ★ 1.9K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Python | Shell |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-09-13 |
| Forks | ⑂ 24K | ⑂ 213 |
| 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 devops-basics if
- You want the devops-basics feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Shell
- You evaluated both and devops-basics 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 devops-basics
DevOps Basics 🚀 Practical and document place for DevOps toolchain 💝 With comprehensive documentation, basic hands on scripts, advanced examples, and additional resources for a variety of DevOps tools Introduction :wave: You are new to DevOps or want to learn some DevOps tools, or you are already a DevOps engineer, and you are looking for DevOps documents and a place to practice DevOps tools? This repository will assist you in enhancing your DevOps skills and serve as a bookmark for documents related to DevOps. Key features include: Wide range of topics : Explore 40+ important DevOps subjects like Docker…
read the full devops-basics overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is ansible or devops-basics more popular?
ansible has 71,204 GitHub stars and devops-basics has 1,875. ansible has the larger community by that measure.
Are ansible and devops-basics free?
Both are open source. ansible is licensed under GPL-3.0 and devops-basics under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between ansible and devops-basics?
ansible is written in Python and devops-basics in Shell. 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 devops-basics?
Choose ansible if you want the larger community (71,204 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose devops-basics if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.