head to head · open source
compose vs sdk-go
compose has 38,178 GitHub stars, 5,818 forks, 111 open issues and last shipped yesterday. sdk-go has 968 stars, 351 forks, 229 open issues and last shipped today. compose leads on adoption by 3,844% (38,178 vs 968 stars). compose is written in Go under Apache-2.0; sdk-go is written in Go under MIT. compose has attracted 15% as many forks as stars, sdk-go 36%. sdk-go was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (golang, 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.
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Side by side
| compose | sdk-go | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 38K | ★ 968 |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Go | Go |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.8K | ⑂ 351 |
| 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 sdk-go if
- You want the sdk-go feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and sdk-go 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 sdk-go
Temporal Go SDK Temporal is a distributed, scalable, durable, and highly available orchestration engine used to execute asynchronous long running business logic in a scalable and resilient way. "Temporal Go SDK" is Temporal's framework for authoring workflows and activities using the Go language. Add the SDK to your project The core Temporal Go SDK packages, including client , worker , and workflow , are released together as the go.temporal.io/sdk module. From your application's Go module, run: Then import the packages you need, such as: The integrations and tools under contrib are released as separate Go modules…
read the full sdk-go overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is compose or sdk-go more popular?
compose has 38,178 GitHub stars and sdk-go has 968. compose has the larger community by that measure.
Are compose and sdk-go free?
Both are open source. compose is licensed under Apache-2.0 and sdk-go under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between compose and sdk-go?
compose is written in Go and sdk-go 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 sdk-go?
Choose compose if you want the larger community (38,178 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose sdk-go if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.