head to head · open source
compose vs Healthchecks
compose has 38,568 GitHub stars, 5,900 forks, 111 open issues and last shipped 4 days ago. Healthchecks has 10,491 stars, 1,038 forks, 53 open issues and last shipped yesterday. compose leads on adoption by 268% (38,568 vs 10,491 stars). compose is written in Go under Apache-2.0; Healthchecks is written in Python under BSD-3-Clause. compose has attracted 15% as many forks as stars, Healthchecks 10%. Healthchecks was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
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 | Healthchecks | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 39K | ★ 10K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | BSD-3-Clause |
| Written in | Go | Python |
| Last push | 2026-10-30 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.9K | ⑂ 1.0K |
| 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 Healthchecks if
- You want the Healthchecks feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the BSD-3-Clause license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and Healthchecks 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 Healthchecks
Healthchecks Healthchecks is a cron job monitoring service. It listens for HTTP requests and email messages ("pings") from your cron jobs and scheduled tasks ("checks"). When a ping does not arrive on time, Healthchecks sends out alerts. Healthchecks comes with a web dashboard, API, 25+ integrations for delivering notifications, monthly email reports, WebAuthn 2FA support, team management features: projects, team members, read only access. The building blocks are: Python 3.12+ Django 6.1 PostgreSQL, MySQL or MariaDB Healthchecks is licensed under the BSD 3 clause license. Healthchecks is available as a hosted…
read the full Healthchecks overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is compose or Healthchecks more popular?
compose has 38,568 GitHub stars and Healthchecks has 10,491. compose has the larger community by that measure.
Are compose and Healthchecks free?
Both are open source. compose is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Healthchecks under BSD-3-Clause. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between compose and Healthchecks?
compose is written in Go and Healthchecks 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 Healthchecks?
Choose compose if you want the larger community (38,568 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose Healthchecks if its feature set, stack or BSD-3-Clause licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.