head to head · open source
compose vs Prefect
compose has 38,573 GitHub stars, 5,899 forks, 111 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Prefect has 24,109 stars, 2,624 forks, 858 open issues and last shipped yesterday. compose leads on adoption by 60% (38,573 vs 24,109 stars). compose is written in Go under Apache-2.0; Prefect is written in Python under Apache-2.0. compose has attracted 15% as many forks as stars, Prefect 11%. Prefect 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.
← all 20902 open source comparisons
Side by side
| compose | Prefect | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 39K | ★ 24K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Go | Python |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.9K | ⑂ 2.6K |
| 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 Prefect if
- You want the Prefect feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and Prefect 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 Prefect
Installation · Quickstart · Build workflows · Deploy workflows · Prefect Cloud Prefect Prefect is a workflow orchestration framework for building data pipelines in Python. It's the simplest way to elevate a script into a production workflow. With Prefect, you can build resilient, dynamic data pipelines that react to the world around them and recover from unexpected changes. With just a few lines of code, data teams can confidently automate any data process with features such as scheduling, caching, retries, and event based automations. Workflow activity is tracked and can be monitored with a self hosted Prefect…
read the full Prefect overview →
More in Infrastructure & Operations
Related comparisons
More Orchestration & Scheduling projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Orchestration & Scheduling field.
Frequently asked questions
Is compose or Prefect more popular?
compose has 38,573 GitHub stars and Prefect has 24,109. compose has the larger community by that measure.
Are compose and Prefect free?
Both are open source. compose is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Prefect under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between compose and Prefect?
compose is written in Go and Prefect in Python. 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 Prefect?
Choose compose if you want the larger community (38,573 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose Prefect if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.