head to head · open source
ansible vs hcom
ansible has 70,719 GitHub stars, 24,336 forks, 837 open issues and last shipped yesterday. hcom has 505 stars, 79 forks, 38 open issues and last shipped 6 days ago. ansible leads on adoption by 13,904% (70,719 vs 505 stars). ansible is written in Python under GPL-3.0; hcom is written in Rust under MIT. ansible has attracted 34% as many forks as stars, hcom 16%. 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 | hcom | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 71K | ★ 505 |
| License | GPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Python | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-13 |
| Forks | ⑂ 24K | ⑂ 79 |
| 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 hcom if
- You want the hcom feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You evaluated both and hcom fits your workflow better
About ansible
Ansible is a radically simple, agentless IT automation platform, written in Python and licensed under GPL 3.0, that handles configuration management, application deployment, cloud provisioning, ad hoc task execution, network automation, and multi node orchestration for operators, developers, and network and cloud teams who manage machines over plain SSH.
read the full ansible overview →
About hcom
hcom is a Rust CLI that lets AI coding agents such as Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode, Kilo Code, Pi, Oh My Pi, Antigravity, Cursor, Kimi, Copilot, and Gemini message, watch, and spawn one another across terminals, aimed at developers who already run more than one agent at a time.
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Frequently asked questions
Is ansible or hcom more popular?
ansible has 70,719 GitHub stars and hcom has 505. ansible has the larger community by that measure.
Are ansible and hcom free?
Both are open source. ansible is licensed under GPL-3.0 and hcom under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between ansible and hcom?
ansible is written in Python and hcom in Rust. 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 hcom?
Choose ansible if you want the larger community (70,719 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose hcom if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.