head to head · open source
compose vs openchoreo
compose has 38,573 GitHub stars, 5,899 forks, 111 open issues and last shipped yesterday. openchoreo has 1,757 stars, 273 forks, 269 open issues and last shipped yesterday. compose leads on adoption by 2,095% (38,573 vs 1,757 stars). compose is written in Go under Apache-2.0; openchoreo is written in Go under Apache-2.0. compose has attracted 15% as many forks as stars, openchoreo 16%. 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 | openchoreo | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 39K | ★ 1.8K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Go | Go |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.9K | ⑂ 273 |
| 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 openchoreo if
- You want the openchoreo feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and openchoreo 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 openchoreo
A complete, open source developer platform for Kubernetes OpenChoreo is a developer platform for Kubernetes that lets developers and AI agents build, deploy, and operate apps, resources, and agentic workloads. It provides development and platform abstractions, a Backstage powered developer portal, CI/CD, GitOps, and observability. Why OpenChoreo? Kubernetes gives you powerful primitives like Namespaces, Deployments, CronJobs, Services, and NetworkPolicies, but they're too low level for most developers. Platform engineers end up building the actual platform from scratch: defining higher level abstractions, wiring…
read the full openchoreo overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is compose or openchoreo more popular?
compose has 38,573 GitHub stars and openchoreo has 1,757. compose has the larger community by that measure.
Are compose and openchoreo free?
Both are open source. compose is licensed under Apache-2.0 and openchoreo under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between compose and openchoreo?
compose is written in Go and openchoreo 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 openchoreo?
Choose compose if you want the larger community (38,573 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose openchoreo if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.