head to head · open source
compose vs loonflow
compose has 38,175 GitHub stars, 5,817 forks, 111 open issues and last shipped yesterday. loonflow has 2,089 stars, 704 forks, 19 open issues and last shipped 4 months ago. compose leads on adoption by 1,727% (38,175 vs 2,089 stars). compose is written in Go under Apache-2.0; loonflow is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0. compose has attracted 15% as many forks as stars, loonflow 34%. compose 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 | loonflow | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 38K | ★ 2.1K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Go | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-05-25 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.8K | ⑂ 704 |
| 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 loonflow if
- You want the loonflow feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and loonflow 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 loonflow
Loonflow is an open source process automation platform for enterprises, built around ticket and workflow operations. It lives in the Django and Python web ecosystem, and the README also identifies React and MUI for the interface.
read the full loonflow overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is compose or loonflow more popular?
compose has 38,175 GitHub stars and loonflow has 2,089. compose has the larger community by that measure.
Are compose and loonflow free?
Both are open source. compose is licensed under Apache-2.0 and loonflow under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between compose and loonflow?
compose is written in Go and loonflow in TypeScript. 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 loonflow?
Choose compose if you want the larger community (38,175 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose loonflow if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.