head to head · open source
compose vs donutbrowser
compose has 38,573 GitHub stars, 5,899 forks, 111 open issues and last shipped yesterday. donutbrowser has 4,197 stars, 437 forks, 28 open issues and last shipped yesterday. compose leads on adoption by 819% (38,573 vs 4,197 stars). compose is written in Go under Apache-2.0; donutbrowser is written in Rust under AGPL-3.0. compose has attracted 15% as many forks as stars, donutbrowser 10%. donutbrowser 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 | donutbrowser | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 39K | ★ 4.2K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Go | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.9K | ⑂ 437 |
| 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 donutbrowser if
- You want the donutbrowser feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You evaluated both and donutbrowser 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 donutbrowser
Donut Browser Open Source Anti Detect Browser donutbrowser.com Features Unlimited browser profiles: each fully isolated with its own fingerprint, cookies, extensions, and data Anti detect Chromium engine: powered by Wayfern, a privacy focused Chromium fork whose fingerprint spoofing is not detected by Cloudflare, reCaptcha v3, or other browser fingerprinting and anti bot services DNS AdBlocker: block ads, trackers, and other unwanted content with per profile DNS blocking Proxy support: HTTP, HTTPS, SOCKS4, SOCKS5 per profile, with dynamic proxy URLs VPN support: WireGuard configs per profile Local API & MCP…
read the full donutbrowser overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is compose or donutbrowser more popular?
compose has 38,573 GitHub stars and donutbrowser has 4,197. compose has the larger community by that measure.
Are compose and donutbrowser free?
Both are open source. compose is licensed under Apache-2.0 and donutbrowser under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between compose and donutbrowser?
compose is written in Go and donutbrowser in Rust. 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 donutbrowser?
Choose compose if you want the larger community (38,573 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose donutbrowser if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.