head to head · open source
ansible vs genie
ansible has 71,204 GitHub stars, 24,474 forks, 837 open issues and last shipped yesterday. genie has 1,768 stars, 377 forks, 17 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. ansible leads on adoption by 3,927% (71,204 vs 1,768 stars). ansible is written in Python under GPL-3.0; genie is written in Java under Apache-2.0. ansible has attracted 34% as many forks as stars, genie 21%. 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 | genie | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 71K | ★ 1.8K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Python | Java |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-10-31 |
| Forks | ⑂ 24K | ⑂ 377 |
| 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 genie if
- You want the genie feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Java
- You evaluated both and genie 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 genie
Genie Introduction Genie is a federated Big Data orchestration and execution engine developed by Netflix. Genie’s value is best described in terms of the problem it solves. Big Data infrastructure is complex and ever evolving. Data consumers (Data Scientists or other applications) need to jump over a lot of hurdles in order to run a simple query: Find, download, install and configure a number of binaries, libraries and tools Point to the correct cluster, using valid configuration and reasonable parameters, some of which are very obscure Manually monitor the query, retrieve its output What works today, may not…
read the full genie overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is ansible or genie more popular?
ansible has 71,204 GitHub stars and genie has 1,768. ansible has the larger community by that measure.
Are ansible and genie free?
Both are open source. ansible is licensed under GPL-3.0 and genie under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between ansible and genie?
ansible is written in Python and genie in Java. 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 genie?
Choose ansible if you want the larger community (71,204 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose genie if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.