head to head · open source
compose vs uncloud
compose has 38,175 GitHub stars, 5,817 forks, 111 open issues and last shipped yesterday. uncloud has 5,492 stars, 179 forks, 89 open issues and last shipped yesterday. compose leads on adoption by 595% (38,175 vs 5,492 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 | ★ 38K | ★ 5.5K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Go | Go |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.8K | ⑂ 179 |
| 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 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
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 uncloud
Uncloud is a lightweight Apache 2.0 licensed clustering and container orchestration tool written in Go that deploys and manages containerised applications across a network of Docker hosts, aimed at developers who want the flexibility of self hosted infrastructure without the operational complexity of Kubernetes.
read the full uncloud overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is compose or uncloud more popular?
compose has 38,175 GitHub stars and uncloud has 5,492. 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 (38,175 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.