head to head · open source
compose vs rulego
compose has 38,175 GitHub stars, 5,817 forks, 111 open issues and last shipped yesterday. rulego has 1,605 stars, 156 forks, 4 open issues and last shipped 4 days ago. compose leads on adoption by 2,279% (38,175 vs 1,605 stars). compose is written in Go under Apache-2.0; rulego is written in Go under Apache-2.0. compose has attracted 15% as many forks as stars, rulego 10%. compose was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (go), 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.
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Side by side
| compose | rulego | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 38K | ★ 1.6K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Go | Go |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-14 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.8K | ⑂ 156 |
| 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 rulego if
- You want the rulego 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 rulego 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 rulego
RuleGo is a Go language rule engine framework for component orchestration. It helps build loosely coupled systems that can respond to changes in business requirements in real time. The project lives in the Go ecosystem and uses the Apache 2.0 license.
read the full rulego overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is compose or rulego more popular?
compose has 38,175 GitHub stars and rulego has 1,605. compose has the larger community by that measure.
Are compose and rulego free?
Both are open source. compose is licensed under Apache-2.0 and rulego under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between compose and rulego?
compose is written in Go and rulego 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 rulego?
Choose compose if you want the larger community (38,175 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose rulego if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.