head to head · open source
compose vs bree
compose has 38,573 GitHub stars, 5,899 forks, 111 open issues and last shipped yesterday. bree has 3,297 stars, 91 forks, 29 open issues and last shipped 9 months ago. compose leads on adoption by 1,070% (38,573 vs 3,297 stars). compose is written in Go under Apache-2.0; bree is written in JavaScript under MIT. compose has attracted 15% as many forks as stars, bree 3%. 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 | bree | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 39K | ★ 3.3K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Go | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-02-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.9K | ⑂ 91 |
| 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 bree if
- You want the bree feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and bree 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 bree
Bree is the best job scheduler for Node.js and JavaScript with cron , dates , ms , later , and human friendly support. Works in Node v12.17.0+, uses worker threads (Node.js) to spawn sandboxed processes, and supports async/await , retries , throttling , concurrency , and cancelable jobs with graceful shutdown . Simple, fast, and lightweight. Made for Forward Email and Lad . Table of Contents Foreword Install Upgrading Usage and Examples ECMAScript modules (ESM) CommonJS (CJS) Instance Options Job Options Job Interval and Timeout Values Listening for events Custom error/message handling Cancellation, Retries…
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Frequently asked questions
Is compose or bree more popular?
compose has 38,573 GitHub stars and bree has 3,297. compose has the larger community by that measure.
Are compose and bree free?
Both are open source. compose is licensed under Apache-2.0 and bree under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between compose and bree?
compose is written in Go and bree in JavaScript. 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 bree?
Choose compose if you want the larger community (38,573 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose bree if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.