head to head · open source
compose vs harmonist
compose has 38,573 GitHub stars, 5,899 forks, 111 open issues and last shipped yesterday. harmonist has 2,244 stars, 209 forks, 1 open issues and last shipped 5 months ago. compose leads on adoption by 1,619% (38,573 vs 2,244 stars). compose is written in Go under Apache-2.0; harmonist is written in Python under MIT. compose has attracted 15% as many forks as stars, harmonist 9%. 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 | harmonist | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 39K | ★ 2.2K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Go | Python |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-06-09 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.9K | ⑂ 209 |
| 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 harmonist if
- You want the harmonist feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and harmonist 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 harmonist
If you are an AI agent asked to install or integrate this pack: read integration prompt.md and execute its steps. Do not apply AGENTS.template.md as a live rule inside the pack folder — it is the template that becomes the user project's AGENTS.md during integration. Harmonist Portable AI agent orchestration with mechanical protocol enforcement A drop in multi agent framework for Cursor, Claude Code, Copilot, Windsurf, Aider, and other AI coding assistants. Built and maintained by GammaLab · @GammaLabTechnologies Most AI coding frameworks trust the language model to follow the rules. Harmonist refuses to let it…
read the full harmonist overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is compose or harmonist more popular?
compose has 38,573 GitHub stars and harmonist has 2,244. compose has the larger community by that measure.
Are compose and harmonist free?
Both are open source. compose is licensed under Apache-2.0 and harmonist under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between compose and harmonist?
compose is written in Go and harmonist in Python. 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 harmonist?
Choose compose if you want the larger community (38,573 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose harmonist if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.