head to head · open source
compose vs uncloud
compose has 38,573 GitHub stars, 5,899 forks, 111 open issues and last shipped yesterday. uncloud has 5,590 stars, 184 forks, 89 open issues and last shipped 5 days ago. compose leads on adoption by 590% (38,573 vs 5,590 stars). compose is written in Go under Apache-2.0; uncloud is written in Go under Apache-2.0. compose has attracted 15% as many forks as stars, uncloud 3%. compose was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 4 topic tags (docker, docker-compose, 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 | uncloud | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 39K | ★ 5.6K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Go | Go |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-10-29 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.9K | ⑂ 184 |
| 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 uncloud if
- You want the uncloud 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 uncloud 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 uncloud
▸ Deploy and scale containerised apps across servers without Swarm or Kubernetes overhead ◂ Uncloud is a lightweight clustering and container orchestration tool that lets you deploy and manage web apps across cloud VMs and bare metal with minimised cluster management overhead. It creates a secure WireGuard mesh network between your Docker hosts and provides automatic service discovery, load balancing, ingress with HTTPS, and simple CLI commands to manage your apps. Unlike traditional orchestrators, there's no central control plane and quorum to maintain. Each machine maintains a synchronised copy of the cluster…
read the full uncloud overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is compose or uncloud more popular?
compose has 38,573 GitHub stars and uncloud has 5,590. compose has the larger community by that measure.
Are compose and uncloud free?
Both are open source. compose is licensed under Apache-2.0 and uncloud under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between compose and uncloud?
compose is written in Go and uncloud 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 uncloud?
Choose compose if you want the larger community (38,573 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose uncloud if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.