head to head · open source
Docker vs itamae
Docker has 72,240 GitHub stars, 19,301 forks, 3,902 open issues and last shipped yesterday. itamae has 1,135 stars, 118 forks, 38 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. Docker leads on adoption by 6,265% (72,240 vs 1,135 stars). Docker is written in Go under Apache-2.0; itamae is written in Ruby under MIT. Docker has attracted 27% as many forks as stars, itamae 10%. Docker 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.
← all 20902 open source comparisons
Side by side
| Docker | itamae | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 72K | ★ 1.1K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Go | Ruby |
| Last push | 2026-11-04 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 19K | ⑂ 118 |
| 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 itamae if
- You want the itamae feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Ruby
- You evaluated both and itamae 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 itamae
Simple and lightweight configuration management tool inspired by Chef. CHANGELOG Concept Chef like DSL (but not compatible with Chef) Simpler and lighter weight than Chef Only recipes Idempotent Installation Getting Started Create a recipe file as recipe.rb : And then execute itamae command to apply a recipe to a local machine. Or you can apply a recipe to a remote machine by itamae ssh . You can also apply a recipe to Vagrant VM by itamae ssh vagrant . You can find further information to use Itamae on Itamae Wiki. Enjoy! Documentation Run tests Requirements: Vagrant Get Involved Join Slack team Presentations /…
read the full itamae 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 itamae more popular?
Docker has 72,240 GitHub stars and itamae has 1,135. Docker has the larger community by that measure.
Are Docker and itamae free?
Both are open source. Docker is licensed under Apache-2.0 and itamae under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Docker and itamae?
Docker is written in Go and itamae in Ruby. 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 itamae?
Choose Docker if you want the larger community (72,240 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose itamae if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.