head to head · open source
compose vs bree
compose has 38,175 GitHub stars, 5,817 forks, 111 open issues and last shipped yesterday. bree has 3,293 stars, 87 forks, 29 open issues and last shipped 7 months ago. compose leads on adoption by 1,059% (38,175 vs 3,293 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 | ★ 38K | ★ 3.3K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Go | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-02-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.8K | ⑂ 87 |
| 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 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
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 bree
Bree is Node.js and JavaScript job task scheduler. It runs scheduled work inside Node.js apps. It uses worker threads to spawn sandboxed processes. It supports cron, Date, ms, later, and human friendly syntax. It lives in Node.js scheduling ecosystem.
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Frequently asked questions
Is compose or bree more popular?
compose has 38,175 GitHub stars and bree has 3,293. 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 (38,175 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose bree if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.