head to head · open source
compose vs ansible-role-kubernetes
compose has 38,573 GitHub stars, 5,899 forks, 111 open issues and last shipped yesterday. ansible-role-kubernetes has 626 stars, 279 forks, 6 open issues and last shipped 2 months ago. compose leads on adoption by 6,062% (38,573 vs 626 stars). compose is written in Go under Apache-2.0; ansible-role-kubernetes is written in Jinja under MIT. compose has attracted 15% as many forks as stars, ansible-role-kubernetes 45%. compose was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (docker, 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 | ansible-role-kubernetes | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 39K | ★ 626 |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Go | Jinja |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-09-08 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.9K | ⑂ 279 |
| 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 ansible-role-kubernetes if
- You want the ansible-role-kubernetes feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Jinja
- You evaluated both and ansible-role-kubernetes 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 ansible-role-kubernetes
Ansible Role: Kubernetes An Ansible Role that installs Kubernetes on Linux. Requirements Requires a compatible Container Runtime; recommended role for CRI installation: geerlingguy.containerd . Role Variables Available variables are listed below, along with default values (see defaults/main.yml ): Kubernetes packages to be installed on the server. You can either provide a list of package names, or set name and state to have more control over whether the package is present , absent , latest , etc. The minor version of Kubernetes to install. The plain kubernetes version is used to pin an apt package version on…
read the full ansible-role-kubernetes overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is compose or ansible-role-kubernetes more popular?
compose has 38,573 GitHub stars and ansible-role-kubernetes has 626. compose has the larger community by that measure.
Are compose and ansible-role-kubernetes free?
Both are open source. compose is licensed under Apache-2.0 and ansible-role-kubernetes under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between compose and ansible-role-kubernetes?
compose is written in Go and ansible-role-kubernetes in Jinja. 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 ansible-role-kubernetes?
Choose compose if you want the larger community (38,573 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose ansible-role-kubernetes if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.