head to head · open source
ansible vs OpenTofu
ansible has 71,235 GitHub stars, 24,444 forks, 837 open issues and last shipped today. OpenTofu has 30,716 stars, 1,418 forks, 320 open issues and last shipped yesterday. ansible leads on adoption by 132% (71,235 vs 30,716 stars). ansible is written in Python under GPL-3.0; OpenTofu is written in Go under MPL-2.0. ansible has attracted 34% as many forks as stars, OpenTofu 5%. 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.
← all 20902 open source comparisons
Side by side
| ansible | OpenTofu | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 71K | ★ 31K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | MPL-2.0 |
| Written in | Python | Go |
| Last push | 2026-11-04 | 2026-11-03 |
| Forks | ⑂ 24K | ⑂ 1.4K |
| 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 OpenTofu if
- You want the OpenTofu 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 OpenTofu 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 OpenTofu
Homepage Slack Get Started OpenTofu is an OSS tool for building, changing, and versioning infrastructure safely and efficiently. OpenTofu can manage existing and popular service providers as well as custom in house solutions. Getting help and contributing Have a question? Post it in GitHub Discussions Open a GitHub issue Join us in the opentofu channel on the CNCF Slack! Want to contribute? Please read the Contribution Guide. Recurring Events Community Meetings on Wednesdays at 12:30 UTC (calendar) Technical Steering Committee Meetings every other Tuesday at 4pm UTC (calendar) [!TIP] For more OpenTofu events…
read the full OpenTofu overview →
More in Infrastructure & Operations
Related comparisons
More Orchestration & Scheduling projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Orchestration & Scheduling field.
Frequently asked questions
Is ansible or OpenTofu more popular?
ansible has 71,235 GitHub stars and OpenTofu has 30,716. ansible has the larger community by that measure.
Are ansible and OpenTofu free?
Both are open source. ansible is licensed under GPL-3.0 and OpenTofu under MPL-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between ansible and OpenTofu?
ansible is written in Python and OpenTofu 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 OpenTofu?
Choose ansible if you want the larger community (71,235 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose OpenTofu if its feature set, stack or MPL-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.