head to head · open source
ansible vs Mage
ansible has 70,721 GitHub stars, 24,333 forks, 837 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Mage has 8,824 stars, 990 forks, 624 open issues and last shipped 8 days ago. ansible leads on adoption by 701% (70,721 vs 8,824 stars). ansible is written in Python under GPL-3.0; Mage is written in Python under Apache-2.0. ansible has attracted 34% as many forks as stars, Mage 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 | Mage | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 71K | ★ 8.8K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Python | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-11 |
| Forks | ⑂ 24K | ⑂ 990 |
| 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 Mage if
- You want the Mage 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 Mage 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 Mage
Mage is an Apache 2.0 licensed, self hosted development environment for building, running, and managing data pipelines, aimed at data engineers, data scientists, and analytics teams who want to develop ETL, ELT, and orchestration workflows locally before scaling them.
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Frequently asked questions
Is ansible or Mage more popular?
ansible has 70,721 GitHub stars and Mage has 8,824. ansible has the larger community by that measure.
Are ansible and Mage free?
Both are open source. ansible is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Mage under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between ansible and Mage?
ansible is written in Python and Mage 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 Mage?
Choose ansible if you want the larger community (70,721 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose Mage if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.