head to head · open source
compose vs xxl-job
compose has 38,573 GitHub stars, 5,899 forks, 111 open issues and last shipped yesterday. xxl-job has 30,648 stars, 11,492 forks, 79 open issues and last shipped 25 days ago. compose leads on adoption by 26% (38,573 vs 30,648 stars). compose is written in Go under Apache-2.0; xxl-job is written in Java under GPL-3.0. compose has attracted 15% as many forks as stars, xxl-job 37%. 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 | xxl-job | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 39K | ★ 31K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Go | Java |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-10-09 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.9K | ⑂ 11K |
| 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 xxl-job if
- You want the xxl-job feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Java
- You evaluated both and xxl-job 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 xxl-job
XXL JOB XXL JOB, a distributed task scheduling framework. Home Page Introduction XXL JOB is a distributed task scheduling framework. It's core design goal is to develop quickly and learn simple, lightweight, and easy to expand. Now, it's already open source, and many companies use it in production environments, real "out of the box". XXL JOB是一个分布式任务调度平台，其核心设计目标是开发迅速、学习简单、轻量级、易扩展。现已开放源代码并接入多家公司线上产品线，开箱即用。 Sponsor XXL JOB is an open source and free project, with its ongoing development made possible entirely by the support of these awesome backers. XXL JOB 是一个开源且免费项目，其正在进行的开发完全得益于支持者的支持。开源不易，前往赞助项目开发 金牌赞助方 阿里云…
read the full xxl-job overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is compose or xxl-job more popular?
compose has 38,573 GitHub stars and xxl-job has 30,648. compose has the larger community by that measure.
Are compose and xxl-job free?
Both are open source. compose is licensed under Apache-2.0 and xxl-job under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between compose and xxl-job?
compose is written in Go and xxl-job in Java. 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 xxl-job?
Choose compose if you want the larger community (38,573 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose xxl-job if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.