head to head · open source
compose vs ftpgrab
compose has 38,573 GitHub stars, 5,899 forks, 111 open issues and last shipped yesterday. ftpgrab has 566 stars, 79 forks, 28 open issues and last shipped 10 days ago. compose leads on adoption by 6,715% (38,573 vs 566 stars). compose is written in Go under Apache-2.0; ftpgrab is written in Go under MIT. compose has attracted 15% as many forks as stars, ftpgrab 14%. compose was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 3 topic tags (docker, go, 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.
← all 20902 open source comparisons
Side by side
| compose | ftpgrab | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 39K | ★ 566 |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Go | Go |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-10-24 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.9K | ⑂ 79 |
| 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 ftpgrab if
- You want the ftpgrab feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and ftpgrab 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 ftpgrab
About FTPGrab is a command line tool for pulling files from remote FTP and SFTP servers to your NAS, server, or computer. It is built for unattended transfers: you can point it at one or more remote sources, run it on a schedule, filter what should be downloaded, and avoid re downloading files that were already grabbed. It can also send notifications after runs, so you can keep track of successful downloads, failures, and other activity without babysitting the job. It works well for seedboxes, home servers, and any setup where files need to move reliably from a remote server to local storage. FTPGrab is…
read the full ftpgrab overview →
More in Infrastructure & Operations
Related comparisons
More Orchestration & Scheduling projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Orchestration & Scheduling field.
Frequently asked questions
Is compose or ftpgrab more popular?
compose has 38,573 GitHub stars and ftpgrab has 566. compose has the larger community by that measure.
Are compose and ftpgrab free?
Both are open source. compose is licensed under Apache-2.0 and ftpgrab under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between compose and ftpgrab?
compose is written in Go and ftpgrab in Go. 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 ftpgrab?
Choose compose if you want the larger community (38,573 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose ftpgrab if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.