head to head · open source
compose vs pipecd
compose has 38,175 GitHub stars, 5,817 forks, 111 open issues and last shipped yesterday. pipecd has 1,355 stars, 364 forks, 235 open issues and last shipped yesterday. compose leads on adoption by 2,717% (38,175 vs 1,355 stars). compose is written in Go under Apache-2.0; pipecd is written in Go under Apache-2.0. compose has attracted 15% as many forks as stars, pipecd 27%. 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 | pipecd | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 38K | ★ 1.4K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Go | Go |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.8K | ⑂ 364 |
| 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 pipecd if
- You want the pipecd 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 pipecd 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 pipecd
PipeCD is an Apache 2.0 licensed, CNCF Sandbox GitOps continuous delivery platform written in Go that gives teams one consistent deployment and operations experience across Kubernetes, Terraform, GCP Cloud Run, AWS Lambda and AWS ECS.
read the full pipecd overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is compose or pipecd more popular?
compose has 38,175 GitHub stars and pipecd has 1,355. compose has the larger community by that measure.
Are compose and pipecd free?
Both are open source. compose is licensed under Apache-2.0 and pipecd under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between compose and pipecd?
compose is written in Go and pipecd 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 pipecd?
Choose compose if you want the larger community (38,175 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose pipecd if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.