head to head · open source
compose vs atmos
compose has 38,573 GitHub stars, 5,899 forks, 111 open issues and last shipped yesterday. atmos has 1,409 stars, 197 forks, 289 open issues and last shipped yesterday. compose leads on adoption by 2,638% (38,573 vs 1,409 stars). compose is written in Go under Apache-2.0; atmos is written in Go under Apache-2.0. compose has attracted 15% as many forks as stars, atmos 14%. atmos 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 | atmos | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 39K | ★ 1.4K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Go | Go |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.9K | ⑂ 197 |
| 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 atmos if
- You want the atmos 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 atmos 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 atmos
Run your infrastructure anywhere. Atmos is the open source runtime for infrastructure — it builds, authenticates, and ships Terraform, OpenTofu, Kubernetes, Helm, and containers the same way on your laptop, in CI, and with AI agents. Auth, secrets, vendoring, caching, the toolchain, workflows, and CI are built in. Point every environment at the same reusable root modules and treat the rest as configuration. Stop stringing together 25 tools. Run it on your laptop. Run it the same in CI. Run it with agents. Everything is open source and free. [!TIP] You can try out atmos directly in your browser using GitHub…
read the full atmos overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is compose or atmos more popular?
compose has 38,573 GitHub stars and atmos has 1,409. compose has the larger community by that measure.
Are compose and atmos free?
Both are open source. compose is licensed under Apache-2.0 and atmos under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between compose and atmos?
compose is written in Go and atmos 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, compose or atmos?
Choose compose if you want the larger community (38,573 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose atmos if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.