head to head · open source
compose vs flint
compose has 38,178 GitHub stars, 5,818 forks, 111 open issues and last shipped yesterday. flint has 1,709 stars, 106 forks, 16 open issues and last shipped 13 days ago. compose leads on adoption by 2,134% (38,178 vs 1,709 stars). compose is written in Go under Apache-2.0; flint is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0. compose has attracted 15% as many forks as stars, flint 6%. 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 | flint | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 38K | ★ 1.7K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Go | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-05 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.8K | ⑂ 106 |
| 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 flint if
- You want the flint 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 flint 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 flint
Sponsored by heretic bot mitigation and anti fraud Note: this repository is no longer actively maintained and has been succeeded by 🌀 Flint — KVM Management, Reimagined A single <11MB binary with a modern Web UI, CLI, and API for KVM. No XML. No bloat. Just VMs. Flint is a modern, self contained KVM management tool built for developers, sysadmins, and home labs who want zero bloat and maximum efficiency. It was built in a few hours out of a sudden urge for something better. 📋 Prerequisites System Requirements: Linux host (Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora, RHEL, Arch, etc.) libvirt = 6.10.0 (check with libvirtd version ) …
read the full flint overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is compose or flint more popular?
compose has 38,178 GitHub stars and flint has 1,709. compose has the larger community by that measure.
Are compose and flint free?
Both are open source. compose is licensed under Apache-2.0 and flint under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between compose and flint?
compose is written in Go and flint 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 flint?
Choose compose if you want the larger community (38,178 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose flint if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.