head to head · open source
Docker vs goss
Docker has 72,113 GitHub stars, 19,233 forks, 3,902 open issues and last shipped yesterday. goss has 5,972 stars, 501 forks, 57 open issues and last shipped 6 days ago. Docker leads on adoption by 1,108% (72,113 vs 5,972 stars). Docker is written in Go under Apache-2.0; goss is written in Go under Apache-2.0. Docker has attracted 27% as many forks as stars, goss 8%. Docker was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 3 topic tags (docker, go, golang), 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
| Docker | goss | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 72K | ★ 6.0K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Go | Go |
| Last push | 2026-09-19 | 2026-09-14 |
| Forks | ⑂ 19K | ⑂ 501 |
| 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 goss if
- You want the goss 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 goss fits your workflow better
About Docker
Docker, published here as the Moby Project, is the open source collection of container toolkit components and the framework for assembling them into custom container based systems, built for engineers, integrators and enthusiasts who want to modify, hack and build on container code rather than buy a commercially supported product.
read the full Docker overview →
About goss
Goss is an Apache 2.0 licensed, Go based YAML test runner that validates the configuration of a server or container and can expose the result as a health endpoint, built for DevOps engineers and SREs who need fast, repeatable checks on Linux hosts, Docker containers, and Kubernetes workloads.
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Frequently asked questions
Is Docker or goss more popular?
Docker has 72,113 GitHub stars and goss has 5,972. Docker has the larger community by that measure.
Are Docker and goss free?
Both are open source. Docker is licensed under Apache-2.0 and goss under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Docker and goss?
Docker is written in Go and goss 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 goss?
Choose Docker if you want the larger community (72,113 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose goss if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.