head to head · open source
compose vs swarmclaw
compose has 38,573 GitHub stars, 5,899 forks, 111 open issues and last shipped yesterday. swarmclaw has 703 stars, 144 forks, 23 open issues and last shipped 4 months ago. compose leads on adoption by 5,387% (38,573 vs 703 stars). compose is written in Go under Apache-2.0; swarmclaw is written in TypeScript under MIT. compose has attracted 15% as many forks as stars, swarmclaw 20%. 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 | swarmclaw | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 39K | ★ 703 |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Go | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-06-30 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.9K | ⑂ 144 |
| 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 swarmclaw if
- You want the swarmclaw feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and swarmclaw 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 swarmclaw
SwarmClaw The self hosted AI agent runtime and multi agent framework for autonomous agents. Open source agent swarms with durable agent memory, MCP tools, skills, delegation, schedules, and 23+ LLM providers — a practical Claude Code and LangChain alternative. SwarmClaw is an open source, self hosted AI agent runtime and multi agent framework. Run autonomous AI agents, agent swarms, and orchestrators with heartbeats, schedules, delegation, agent memory, runtime skills, and reviewed conversation to skill learning — across OpenClaw gateways, Claude, GPT, Gemini, OpenRouter, Ollama, and 23+ other providers. Use it…
read the full swarmclaw overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is compose or swarmclaw more popular?
compose has 38,573 GitHub stars and swarmclaw has 703. compose has the larger community by that measure.
Are compose and swarmclaw free?
Both are open source. compose is licensed under Apache-2.0 and swarmclaw under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between compose and swarmclaw?
compose is written in Go and swarmclaw 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 swarmclaw?
Choose compose if you want the larger community (38,573 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose swarmclaw if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.