head to head · open source
compose vs agent-swarm
compose has 38,573 GitHub stars, 5,899 forks, 111 open issues and last shipped yesterday. agent-swarm has 986 stars, 143 forks, 11 open issues and last shipped yesterday. compose leads on adoption by 3,812% (38,573 vs 986 stars). compose is written in Go under Apache-2.0; agent-swarm is written in TypeScript under MIT. compose has attracted 15% as many forks as stars, agent-swarm 15%. agent-swarm 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
| compose | agent-swarm | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 39K | ★ 986 |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Go | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.9K | ⑂ 143 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick compose if
- You weight community size — 39K 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 agent-swarm if
- You want the agent-swarm feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and agent-swarm fits your workflow better
About compose
Table of Contents Docker Compose Where to get Docker Compose + Windows and macOS + Linux Quick Start Contributing Legacy Docker Compose Docker Compose is a tool for running multi container applications on Docker defined using the Compose file format. A Compose file is used to define how one or more containers that make up your application are configured. Once you have a Compose file, you can create and start your application with a single command: docker compose up . Note : About Docker Swarm Docker Swarm used to rely on the legacy compose file format but did not adopt the compose specification so is missing…
read the full compose overview →
About agent-swarm
An engine to make your company AI Native Built by desplega.sh . [!TIP] This repo evolves every single day. Watch now → ▸ daily evolution · slack → pr · Making of agent swarm.dev is an open source operating system for AI work. A lead agent delegates goals to workers such as Claude Code or Codex. Isolated containers, shared memory, tools, schedules, and review gates preserve work across sessions. What you get A lead agent that receives work from Slack, repositories, issue trackers, email, or the API Schema validated task results for callers that need structured JSON output Deferred tasks that wake when all or any…
read the full agent-swarm overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is compose or agent-swarm more popular?
compose has 38,573 GitHub stars and agent-swarm has 986. compose has the larger community by that measure.
Are compose and agent-swarm free?
Both are open source. compose is licensed under Apache-2.0 and agent-swarm under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between compose and agent-swarm?
compose is written in Go and agent-swarm 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 agent-swarm?
Choose compose if you want the larger community (38,573 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose agent-swarm if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.