head to head · open source
compose vs obelisk
compose has 38,573 GitHub stars, 5,899 forks, 111 open issues and last shipped yesterday. obelisk has 766 stars, 19 forks, 2 open issues and last shipped yesterday. compose leads on adoption by 4,936% (38,573 vs 766 stars). compose is written in Go under Apache-2.0; obelisk is written in Rust under AGPL-3.0. compose has attracted 15% as many forks as stars, obelisk 2%. obelisk 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 | obelisk | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 39K | ★ 766 |
| License | Apache-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Go | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.9K | ⑂ 19 |
| 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 obelisk if
- You want the obelisk feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You evaluated both and obelisk 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 obelisk
Obelisk A deterministic workflow engine built on the WASM Component Model. [!WARNING] Pre release : Expect changes in CLI, gRPC, WIT, and database schema. Obelisk in Action The Stargazers app features: A webhook listening to GitHub star events. Activities for interacting with Turso DB, OpenAI, and GitHub. A workflow orchestrating the activities. Obelisk fly.io deployment tool features: A complete workflow for deploying Obelisk apps on fly.io Cleanup / compensating actions on failure What's Included Obelisk Runtime : A single binary executing deterministic workflows, activities, and webhook endpoints, persisting…
read the full obelisk overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is compose or obelisk more popular?
compose has 38,573 GitHub stars and obelisk has 766. compose has the larger community by that measure.
Are compose and obelisk free?
Both are open source. compose is licensed under Apache-2.0 and obelisk under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between compose and obelisk?
compose is written in Go and obelisk 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 obelisk?
Choose compose if you want the larger community (38,573 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose obelisk if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.