head to head · open source
ansible vs viewflow
ansible has 70,721 GitHub stars, 24,333 forks, 837 open issues and last shipped yesterday. viewflow has 2,874 stars, 413 forks, 19 open issues and last shipped yesterday. ansible leads on adoption by 2,361% (70,721 vs 2,874 stars). ansible is written in Python under GPL-3.0; viewflow is written in Python under AGPL-3.0. ansible has attracted 34% as many forks as stars, viewflow 14%. ansible was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (python), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
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 | viewflow | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 71K | ★ 2.9K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Python | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 24K | ⑂ 413 |
| 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 viewflow if
- You want the viewflow feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and viewflow 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 viewflow
Viewflow is reusable workflow library for Django. It lives in Python and Django ecosystem, category Infrastructure & Operations / Orchestration & Scheduling. It targets low code business application building. It gives ready made components for user management, workflows, and reporting. It ships as one package. Each part works on its own, but parts also work together. Project homepage is viewflow.io. Concrete problem: business applications need process state, form handling, reporting, and integration with existing systems. Custom Django code often repeats this plumbing. Viewflow provides base classes, BPMN process…
read the full viewflow overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is ansible or viewflow more popular?
ansible has 70,721 GitHub stars and viewflow has 2,874. ansible has the larger community by that measure.
Are ansible and viewflow free?
Both are open source. ansible is licensed under GPL-3.0 and viewflow under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between ansible and viewflow?
ansible is written in Python and viewflow 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 viewflow?
Choose ansible if you want the larger community (70,721 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose viewflow if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.