head to head · open source
ansible vs kapitan
ansible has 70,721 GitHub stars, 24,333 forks, 837 open issues and last shipped yesterday. kapitan has 1,924 stars, 214 forks, 155 open issues and last shipped 10 days ago. ansible leads on adoption by 3,576% (70,721 vs 1,924 stars). ansible is written in Python under GPL-3.0; kapitan is written in Python under Apache-2.0. ansible has attracted 34% as many forks as stars, kapitan 11%. 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 | kapitan | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 71K | ★ 1.9K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Python | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-09 |
| Forks | ⑂ 24K | ⑂ 214 |
| 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 kapitan if
- You want the kapitan feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and kapitan 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 kapitan
Kapitan is an open source, inventory driven configuration management tool that compiles reusable YAML classes and targets into rendered Kubernetes manifests, Terraform resources, and other infrastructure artifacts for platform engineering and GitOps teams.
read the full kapitan overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is ansible or kapitan more popular?
ansible has 70,721 GitHub stars and kapitan has 1,924. ansible has the larger community by that measure.
Are ansible and kapitan free?
Both are open source. ansible is licensed under GPL-3.0 and kapitan under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between ansible and kapitan?
ansible is written in Python and kapitan in Python. 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 kapitan?
Choose ansible if you want the larger community (70,721 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose kapitan if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.