head to head · open source
compose vs devops-basics
compose has 38,175 GitHub stars, 5,817 forks, 111 open issues and last shipped yesterday. devops-basics has 1,880 stars, 212 forks, 4 open issues and last shipped 5 days ago. compose leads on adoption by 1,931% (38,175 vs 1,880 stars). compose is written in Go under Apache-2.0; devops-basics is written in Shell under Apache-2.0. compose has attracted 15% as many forks as stars, devops-basics 11%. compose was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (docker), 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.
← all 8884 open source comparisons
Side by side
| compose | devops-basics | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 38K | ★ 1.9K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Go | Shell |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-13 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.8K | ⑂ 212 |
| 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 devops-basics if
- You want the devops-basics feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Shell
- You evaluated both and devops-basics 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 devops-basics
DevOps Basics is an Apache 2.0 licensed GitHub repository, primarily Shell, listed under Infrastructure & Operations / Orchestration & Scheduling. It is a practical documentation and hands on place for the DevOps toolchain, covering Docker, Kubernetes, Terraform, Ansible, AWS, Azure, CI, CD, CI/CD, cloud, and devops tools. It is the first of a trio with devops practice and devops project, designed to help users learn, practice, and apply DevOps.
read the full devops-basics overview →
More in Infrastructure & Operations
Related comparisons
More Orchestration & Scheduling projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Orchestration & Scheduling field.
Frequently asked questions
Is compose or devops-basics more popular?
compose has 38,175 GitHub stars and devops-basics has 1,880. compose has the larger community by that measure.
Are compose and devops-basics free?
Both are open source. compose is licensed under Apache-2.0 and devops-basics under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between compose and devops-basics?
compose is written in Go and devops-basics in Shell. 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 devops-basics?
Choose compose if you want the larger community (38,175 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose devops-basics if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.