head to head · open source
compose vs Dagu
compose has 38,195 GitHub stars, 5,825 forks, 111 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. Dagu has 4,036 stars, 339 forks, 67 open issues and last shipped yesterday. compose leads on adoption by 846% (38,195 vs 4,036 stars). compose is written in Go under Apache-2.0; Dagu is written in Go under GPL-3.0. compose has attracted 15% as many forks as stars, Dagu 8%. Dagu 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 | Dagu | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 38K | ★ 4.0K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Go | Go |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-19 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.8K | ⑂ 339 |
| 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 Dagu if
- You want the Dagu feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and Dagu 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 Dagu
Dagu is local first workflow engine. It targets operations and internal automation. It lives in Infrastructure & Operations / Orchestration & Scheduling. It is Go project under GPL 3.0. It provides single binary with built in Web UI. It needs no external database or message broker. It runs on Linux, macOS, Windows. GitHub metadata lists 3982 stars, 332 forks, 0 contributors, 67 open issues, repo age 0 years, last push 2026 09 14.
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Frequently asked questions
Is compose or Dagu more popular?
compose has 38,195 GitHub stars and Dagu has 4,036. compose has the larger community by that measure.
Are compose and Dagu free?
Both are open source. compose is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Dagu under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between compose and Dagu?
compose is written in Go and Dagu 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 Dagu?
Choose compose if you want the larger community (38,195 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose Dagu if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.