head to head · open source
compose vs dbos-transact-py
compose has 38,175 GitHub stars, 5,817 forks, 111 open issues and last shipped yesterday. dbos-transact-py has 1,577 stars, 94 forks, 4 open issues and last shipped yesterday. compose leads on adoption by 2,321% (38,175 vs 1,577 stars). compose is written in Go under Apache-2.0; dbos-transact-py is written in Python under MIT. compose has attracted 15% as many forks as stars, dbos-transact-py 6%. dbos-transact-py 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 | dbos-transact-py | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 38K | ★ 1.6K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Go | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.8K | ⑂ 94 |
| 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 dbos-transact-py if
- You want the dbos-transact-py feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and dbos-transact-py 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 dbos-transact-py
DBOS Transact is an open source Python library for durable workflows backed by Postgres. It lives in the Python infrastructure and operations ecosystem, under orchestration and scheduling, and is distributed as the dbos package on PyPI under the MIT license. The project lets developers annotate ordinary functions as workflows and steps, then checkpoint state in Postgres so interrupted programs resume from completed work instead of starting over.
read the full dbos-transact-py overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is compose or dbos-transact-py more popular?
compose has 38,175 GitHub stars and dbos-transact-py has 1,577. compose has the larger community by that measure.
Are compose and dbos-transact-py free?
Both are open source. compose is licensed under Apache-2.0 and dbos-transact-py under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between compose and dbos-transact-py?
compose is written in Go and dbos-transact-py 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 dbos-transact-py?
Choose compose if you want the larger community (38,175 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose dbos-transact-py if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.