head to head · open source
compose vs CodeMachine-CLI
compose has 38,195 GitHub stars, 5,825 forks, 111 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. CodeMachine-CLI has 2,510 stars, 238 forks, 9 open issues and last shipped 7 months ago. compose leads on adoption by 1,422% (38,195 vs 2,510 stars). compose is written in Go under Apache-2.0; CodeMachine-CLI is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0. compose has attracted 15% as many forks as stars, CodeMachine-CLI 9%. compose was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (orchestration), 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
| compose | CodeMachine-CLI | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 38K | ★ 2.5K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Go | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-02-25 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.8K | ⑂ 238 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick compose if
- You weight community size — 38K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick CodeMachine-CLI if
- You want the CodeMachine-CLI feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and CodeMachine-CLI fits your workflow better
About compose
Docker Compose is an Apache 2.0 licensed Go tool that defines and runs multi container applications on Docker from a single Compose file, aimed at developers and operators who need several containers to start together as one isolated application.
read the full compose overview →
About CodeMachine-CLI
CodeMachine is an open source orchestration layer, written in TypeScript and released under the Apache 2.0 licence, that runs AI coding command line agents through structured, repeatable workflows for developers and teams who want long running agent work defined once and executed the same way on every project.
read the full CodeMachine-CLI overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is compose or CodeMachine-CLI more popular?
compose has 38,195 GitHub stars and CodeMachine-CLI has 2,510. compose has the larger community by that measure.
Are compose and CodeMachine-CLI free?
Both are open source. compose is licensed under Apache-2.0 and CodeMachine-CLI under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between compose and CodeMachine-CLI?
compose is written in Go and CodeMachine-CLI in TypeScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, compose or CodeMachine-CLI?
Choose compose if you want the larger community (38,195 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose CodeMachine-CLI if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.