head to head · open source
Docker vs fission
Docker has 72,240 GitHub stars, 19,301 forks, 3,902 open issues and last shipped yesterday. fission has 8,939 stars, 794 forks, 50 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. Docker leads on adoption by 708% (72,240 vs 8,939 stars). Docker is written in Go under Apache-2.0; fission is written in Go under Apache-2.0. Docker has attracted 27% as many forks as stars, fission 9%. Docker was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 3 topic tags (containers, docker, go), 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.
← all 20902 open source comparisons
Side by side
| Docker | fission | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 72K | ★ 8.9K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Go | Go |
| Last push | 2026-11-04 | 2026-11-03 |
| Forks | ⑂ 19K | ⑂ 794 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Docker if
- You weight community size — 72K 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 fission if
- You want the fission 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 fission fits your workflow better
About Docker
The Moby Project ================ Moby is an open source project created by Docker to enable and accelerate software containerization. It provides a "Lego set" of toolkit components, the framework for assembling them into custom container based systems, and a place for all container enthusiasts and professionals to experiment and exchange ideas. Components include container build tools, a container registry, orchestration tools, a runtime and more, and these can be used as building blocks in conjunction with other tools and projects. Principles Moby is an open project guided by strong principles, aiming to be…
read the full Docker overview →
About fission
Fission: Serverless Functions for Kubernetes Fission is an open source, Kubernetes native serverless framework that simplifies the deployment of functions and applications on Kubernetes. With Fission, developers can easily create and deploy serverless functions that can be triggered by a variety of events, such as HTTP requests, messages from a message queue, or scheduled tasks. Fission provides a simple, easy to use interface for developers to create serverless functions in their language of choice, without having to worry about the underlying infrastructure. The framework also offers automatic scaling, so…
read the full fission overview →
More in Infrastructure & Operations
Related comparisons
More Cloud Infrastructure Management projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Cloud Infrastructure Management field.
Frequently asked questions
Is Docker or fission more popular?
Docker has 72,240 GitHub stars and fission has 8,939. Docker has the larger community by that measure.
Are Docker and fission free?
Both are open source. Docker is licensed under Apache-2.0 and fission under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Docker and fission?
Docker is written in Go and fission 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, Docker or fission?
Choose Docker if you want the larger community (72,240 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose fission if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.