head to head · open source
compose vs Inngest
compose has 38,175 GitHub stars, 5,817 forks, 111 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Inngest has 5,841 stars, 357 forks, 234 open issues and last shipped yesterday. compose leads on adoption by 554% (38,175 vs 5,841 stars). compose is written in Go under Apache-2.0; Inngest is written in Go under a custom or non-standard licence. compose has attracted 15% as many forks as stars, Inngest 6%. Inngest 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 | Inngest | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 38K | ★ 5.8K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Custom / other |
| Written in | Go | Go |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.8K | ⑂ 357 |
| 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 Inngest if
- You want the Inngest feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and Inngest 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 Inngest
Inngest is an open source workflow orchestration platform that lets developers write durable, event driven step functions in their existing language SDKs and run them on serverless, long running servers, or the edge.
read the full Inngest overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is compose or Inngest more popular?
compose has 38,175 GitHub stars and Inngest has 5,841. compose has the larger community by that measure.
Are compose and Inngest free?
Both are open source. compose is licensed under Apache-2.0, and Inngest has no licence declared in this registry. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between compose and Inngest?
compose is written in Go and Inngest 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 Inngest?
Choose compose if you want the larger community (38,175 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose Inngest if its feature set, stack or Custom / other licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.