head to head · open source
compose vs dmux
compose has 38,178 GitHub stars, 5,818 forks, 111 open issues and last shipped yesterday. dmux has 1,772 stars, 138 forks, 39 open issues and last shipped 1 months ago. compose leads on adoption by 2,055% (38,178 vs 1,772 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 | ★ 38K | ★ 1.8K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Go | HTML |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-08-16 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.8K | ⑂ 138 |
| 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 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
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 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 compatible…
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Frequently asked questions
Is compose or dmux more popular?
compose has 38,178 GitHub stars and dmux has 1,772. 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 (38,178 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose dmux if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.