head to head · open source
ansible vs waverless
ansible has 70,721 GitHub stars, 24,333 forks, 837 open issues and last shipped yesterday. waverless has 634 stars, 66 forks, 2 open issues and last shipped 29 days ago. ansible leads on adoption by 11,055% (70,721 vs 634 stars). ansible is written in Python under GPL-3.0; waverless is written in Go under Apache-2.0. ansible has attracted 34% as many forks as stars, waverless 10%. 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 | waverless | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 71K | ★ 634 |
| License | GPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Python | Go |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-08-21 |
| Forks | ⑂ 24K | ⑂ 66 |
| 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 waverless if
- You want the waverless feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and waverless 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 waverless
Waverless is a Go based, Apache 2.0 licensed serverless GPU task orchestration system — the scheduling layer behind wavespeed.ai — built for teams that run GPU inference workers across Kubernetes, Novita Serverless, or Docker and need one queue, autoscaler, and HTTP API in front of them.
read the full waverless overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is ansible or waverless more popular?
ansible has 70,721 GitHub stars and waverless has 634. ansible has the larger community by that measure.
Are ansible and waverless free?
Both are open source. ansible is licensed under GPL-3.0 and waverless under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between ansible and waverless?
ansible is written in Python and waverless 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 waverless?
Choose ansible if you want the larger community (70,721 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose waverless if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.