head to head · open source
compose vs quirrel
compose has 38,573 GitHub stars, 5,899 forks, 111 open issues and last shipped yesterday. quirrel has 929 stars, 68 forks, 39 open issues and last shipped yesterday. compose leads on adoption by 4,052% (38,573 vs 929 stars). compose is written in Go under Apache-2.0; quirrel is written in TypeScript under MIT. compose has attracted 15% as many forks as stars, quirrel 7%. quirrel 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 | quirrel | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 39K | ★ 929 |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Go | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.9K | ⑂ 68 |
| 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 quirrel if
- You want the quirrel feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and quirrel 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 quirrel
Quirrel 🎉 Quirrel joins Netlify. Learn more 🎉 The Task Queueing Solution for Serverless. Landing Page Documentation Quirrel makes job queueing simple as cake. It supports delayed jobs, fanout jobs, recurring jobs and CRON jobs. Quirrel values ... great DX (through tailormade client libraries & the development UI) privacy (through end to end encryption) free software (it's MIT licensed!) easy setup (through hosted offering and easy on prem) Getting Started If you want to learn about Quirrel, check out the tutorial! If you want to integrate Quirrel into an existing application, check out the Getting Started…
read the full quirrel overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is compose or quirrel more popular?
compose has 38,573 GitHub stars and quirrel has 929. compose has the larger community by that measure.
Are compose and quirrel free?
Both are open source. compose is licensed under Apache-2.0 and quirrel under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between compose and quirrel?
compose is written in Go and quirrel 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 quirrel?
Choose compose if you want the larger community (38,573 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose quirrel if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.