head to head · open source
compose vs tork
compose has 38,573 GitHub stars, 5,899 forks, 111 open issues and last shipped yesterday. tork has 821 stars, 66 forks, 20 open issues and last shipped 4 days ago. compose leads on adoption by 4,598% (38,573 vs 821 stars). compose is written in Go under Apache-2.0; tork is written in Go under MIT. compose has attracted 15% as many forks as stars, tork 8%. compose was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 3 topic tags (docker, go, golang), 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 | tork | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 39K | ★ 821 |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Go | Go |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-10-30 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.9K | ⑂ 66 |
| 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 tork if
- You want the tork feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and tork 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 tork
Features • Quick Start • Installation • Architecture • Jobs • Tasks • Configuration • REST API • Web UI • Extend Tork is a highly scalable, general purpose workflow engine. It lets you define jobs consisting of multiple tasks, each running inside its own container. You can run Tork on a single machine (standalone mode) or set it up in a distributed environment with multiple workers. Features REST API – Submit jobs, query status, cancel/restart Horizontally scalable – Add workers to handle more tasks Task isolation – Tasks run in containers for isolation, idempotency, and resource limits Automatic recovery –…
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Frequently asked questions
Is compose or tork more popular?
compose has 38,573 GitHub stars and tork has 821. compose has the larger community by that measure.
Are compose and tork free?
Both are open source. compose is licensed under Apache-2.0 and tork under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between compose and tork?
compose is written in Go and tork 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 tork?
Choose compose if you want the larger community (38,573 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose tork if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.