head to head · open source
ansible vs earthly
ansible has 71,204 GitHub stars, 24,474 forks, 837 open issues and last shipped yesterday. earthly has 12,054 stars, 466 forks, 744 open issues and last shipped 8 days ago. ansible leads on adoption by 491% (71,204 vs 12,054 stars). ansible is written in Python under GPL-3.0; earthly is written in Go under MPL-2.0. ansible has attracted 34% as many forks as stars, earthly 4%. 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 | earthly | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 71K | ★ 12K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | MPL-2.0 |
| Written in | Python | Go |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-10-26 |
| Forks | ⑂ 24K | ⑂ 466 |
| 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 earthly if
- You want the earthly feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MPL-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and earthly 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 earthly
Earthly Please note that Earthly is no longer actively maintained. Read more. It’s like Docker for builds 🔁 Repeatable Builds Write builds once, and run them anywhere – on your laptop, remote, and in any CI. ❤️ Super Simple Instantly recognizable syntax – like Dockerfile and Makefile had a baby. 🛠 Compatible with Every Language, Framework, and Build Tool If it runs on Linux, it runs on Earthly. 🏘 Great for Monorepos and Polyrepos Organize your build logic however makes the most sense for your project. 💨 Fast Builds Build caching and parallel execution makes builds fast automatically. ♻️ Reuse, Don't Repeat…
read the full earthly overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is ansible or earthly more popular?
ansible has 71,204 GitHub stars and earthly has 12,054. ansible has the larger community by that measure.
Are ansible and earthly free?
Both are open source. ansible is licensed under GPL-3.0 and earthly under MPL-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between ansible and earthly?
ansible is written in Python and earthly 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 earthly?
Choose ansible if you want the larger community (71,204 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose earthly if its feature set, stack or MPL-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.