head to head · open source
compose vs layer5
compose has 38,178 GitHub stars, 5,818 forks, 111 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. layer5 has 1,124 stars, 1,631 forks, 164 open issues and last shipped yesterday. compose leads on adoption by 3,297% (38,178 vs 1,124 stars). compose is written in Go under Apache-2.0; layer5 is written in JavaScript under Apache-2.0. compose has attracted 15% as many forks as stars, layer5 145%. layer5 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 | layer5 | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 38K | ★ 1.1K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Go | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.8K | ⑂ 1.6K |
| 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 layer5 if
- You want the layer5 feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and layer5 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 layer5
Layer5 is an open source, Apache 2.0 licensed suite of cloud native infrastructure management projects — Meshery, Kanvas, Nighthawk, the Meshery Catalog, Layer5 Academy, Sistent and related components — aimed at developers, platform operators and teams running Kubernetes and its workloads.
read the full layer5 overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is compose or layer5 more popular?
compose has 38,178 GitHub stars and layer5 has 1,124. compose has the larger community by that measure.
Are compose and layer5 free?
Both are open source. compose is licensed under Apache-2.0 and layer5 under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between compose and layer5?
compose is written in Go and layer5 in JavaScript. 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 layer5?
Choose compose if you want the larger community (38,178 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose layer5 if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.