head to head · open source
compose vs hcom
compose has 38,178 GitHub stars, 5,818 forks, 111 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. hcom has 505 stars, 79 forks, 38 open issues and last shipped 6 days ago. compose leads on adoption by 7,460% (38,178 vs 505 stars). compose is written in Go under Apache-2.0; hcom is written in Rust under MIT. compose has attracted 15% as many forks as stars, hcom 16%. 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 | hcom | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 38K | ★ 505 |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Go | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-13 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.8K | ⑂ 79 |
| 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 hcom if
- You want the hcom feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You evaluated both and hcom 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 hcom
hcom is a Rust CLI that lets AI coding agents such as Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode, Kilo Code, Pi, Oh My Pi, Antigravity, Cursor, Kimi, Copilot, and Gemini message, watch, and spawn one another across terminals, aimed at developers who already run more than one agent at a time.
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Frequently asked questions
Is compose or hcom more popular?
compose has 38,178 GitHub stars and hcom has 505. compose has the larger community by that measure.
Are compose and hcom free?
Both are open source. compose is licensed under Apache-2.0 and hcom under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between compose and hcom?
compose is written in Go and hcom 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 hcom?
Choose compose if you want the larger community (38,178 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose hcom if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.