head to head · open source
compose vs Archon
compose has 38,175 GitHub stars, 5,817 forks, 111 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Archon has 23,495 stars, 3,474 forks, 321 open issues and last shipped yesterday. compose leads on adoption by 62% (38,175 vs 23,495 stars). compose is written in Go under Apache-2.0; Archon is written in TypeScript under MIT. compose has attracted 15% as many forks as stars, Archon 15%. compose 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 | Archon | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 38K | ★ 23K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Go | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.8K | ⑂ 3.5K |
| 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 Archon if
- You want the Archon feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Archon 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 Archon
Archon is an open source workflow engine for AI coding agents, written in TypeScript and released under the MIT license. It lives in the AI coding ecosystem, alongside tools such as Claude Code, and is distributed through the Bun runtime and the GitHub CLI. The project describes itself as a harness builder: it lets a developer encode a development process as a YAML workflow and then run that workflow reliably across projects. Workflows are stored in a .archon/workflows/ directory and committed to the repository, so the same definition can be invoked from the CLI, a web UI, Slack, Telegram, or GitHub.…
read the full Archon overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is compose or Archon more popular?
compose has 38,175 GitHub stars and Archon has 23,495. compose has the larger community by that measure.
Are compose and Archon free?
Both are open source. compose is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Archon under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between compose and Archon?
compose is written in Go and Archon 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 Archon?
Choose compose if you want the larger community (38,175 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose Archon if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.