head to head · open source
compose vs database-lab-engine
compose has 38,175 GitHub stars, 5,817 forks, 111 open issues and last shipped yesterday. database-lab-engine has 2,717 stars, 84 forks, 23 open issues and last shipped yesterday. compose leads on adoption by 1,305% (38,175 vs 2,717 stars). compose is written in Go under Apache-2.0; database-lab-engine is written in Go under Apache-2.0. compose has attracted 15% as many forks as stars, database-lab-engine 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 | database-lab-engine | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 38K | ★ 2.7K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Go | Go |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.8K | ⑂ 84 |
| 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 database-lab-engine if
- You want the database-lab-engine 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 database-lab-engine 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 database-lab-engine
Database Lab Engine is an open source Go project that provides database branching and thin cloning for PostgreSQL environments. It lives in the infrastructure and operations ecosystem, around database orchestration, CI/CD, and schema migration workflows. The project lets teams create many PostgreSQL environments from existing databases without copying all data for each environment.
read the full database-lab-engine overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is compose or database-lab-engine more popular?
compose has 38,175 GitHub stars and database-lab-engine has 2,717. compose has the larger community by that measure.
Are compose and database-lab-engine free?
Both are open source. compose is licensed under Apache-2.0 and database-lab-engine under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between compose and database-lab-engine?
compose is written in Go and database-lab-engine 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 database-lab-engine?
Choose compose if you want the larger community (38,175 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose database-lab-engine if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.