head to head · open source
compose vs Dyrector
compose has 38,175 GitHub stars, 5,817 forks, 111 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Dyrector has 1,847 stars, 129 forks, 26 open issues and last shipped 9 days ago. compose leads on adoption by 1,967% (38,175 vs 1,847 stars). compose is written in Go under Apache-2.0; Dyrector is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0. compose has attracted 15% as many forks as stars, Dyrector 7%. compose was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (docker, golang), 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 | Dyrector | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 38K | ★ 1.8K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Go | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-09 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.8K | ⑂ 129 |
| 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 Dyrector if
- You want the Dyrector feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Dyrector 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 Dyrector
Dyrector is a self hosted continuous delivery and deployment platform with version management for OCI containers. It lives in the container orchestration and software delivery ecosystem, and it supports Docker, Kubernetes, and Podman environments while using agents that communicate with the platform over gRPC with TLS encryption.
read the full Dyrector overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is compose or Dyrector more popular?
compose has 38,175 GitHub stars and Dyrector has 1,847. compose has the larger community by that measure.
Are compose and Dyrector free?
Both are open source. compose is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Dyrector under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between compose and Dyrector?
compose is written in Go and Dyrector in TypeScript. 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 Dyrector?
Choose compose if you want the larger community (38,175 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose Dyrector if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.