head to head · open source
compose vs dmux
compose has 38,573 GitHub stars, 5,899 forks, 111 open issues and last shipped yesterday. dmux has 1,814 stars, 138 forks, 39 open issues and last shipped 3 months ago. compose leads on adoption by 2,026% (38,573 vs 1,814 stars). compose is written in Go under Apache-2.0; dmux is written in HTML under MIT. compose has attracted 15% as many forks as stars, dmux 8%. compose 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 | dmux | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 39K | ★ 1.8K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Go | HTML |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-08-16 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.9K | ⑂ 138 |
| 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 dmux if
- You want the dmux feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches HTML
- You evaluated both and dmux 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 dmux
Parallel agents with tmux and worktrees Manage multiple AI coding agents in isolated git worktrees. Branch, develop, and merge — all in parallel. Documentation · Getting Started · Issues Language: English 日本語 Install Quick Start Press n to create a new pane, type a prompt, pick one or more agents (or none for a plain terminal), and dmux handles the rest — worktree, branch, and agent launch. On first run, dmux can configure a primary inference provider/model and an optional backup. It discovers models from the provider when possible and supports API key providers, custom OpenAI…
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Frequently asked questions
Is compose or dmux more popular?
compose has 38,573 GitHub stars and dmux has 1,814. compose has the larger community by that measure.
Are compose and dmux free?
Both are open source. compose is licensed under Apache-2.0 and dmux under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between compose and dmux?
compose is written in Go and dmux in HTML. 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 dmux?
Choose compose if you want the larger community (38,573 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose dmux if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.