head to head · open source
compose vs cli-agent-orchestrator
compose has 38,573 GitHub stars, 5,899 forks, 111 open issues and last shipped yesterday. cli-agent-orchestrator has 1,504 stars, 313 forks, 151 open issues and last shipped yesterday. compose leads on adoption by 2,465% (38,573 vs 1,504 stars). compose is written in Go under Apache-2.0; cli-agent-orchestrator is written in Python under Apache-2.0. compose has attracted 15% as many forks as stars, cli-agent-orchestrator 21%. 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 | cli-agent-orchestrator | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 39K | ★ 1.5K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Go | Python |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.9K | ⑂ 313 |
| 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 cli-agent-orchestrator if
- You want the cli-agent-orchestrator feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and cli-agent-orchestrator 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 cli-agent-orchestrator
CLI Agent Orchestrator (CAO) English 简体中文 CLI Agent Orchestrator (CAO) coordinates multiple AI coding CLIs so a supervisor can delegate work to specialist agents in parallel or sequence. 📚 Documentation — guides, reference, and two interactive courses. What CAO does CAO runs a local cao server , starts provider CLIs in isolated terminal sessions, and gives a supervisor tools for coordinating workers. The agents remain full CLI processes with their native authentication and capabilities. See CODEBASE.md for the runtime architecture and package layout. Prerequisites Install: Python 3.10 or later tmux 3.3 or later…
read the full cli-agent-orchestrator overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is compose or cli-agent-orchestrator more popular?
compose has 38,573 GitHub stars and cli-agent-orchestrator has 1,504. compose has the larger community by that measure.
Are compose and cli-agent-orchestrator free?
Both are open source. compose is licensed under Apache-2.0 and cli-agent-orchestrator under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between compose and cli-agent-orchestrator?
compose is written in Go and cli-agent-orchestrator in Python. 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 cli-agent-orchestrator?
Choose compose if you want the larger community (38,573 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose cli-agent-orchestrator if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.