head to head · open source
Docker vs task
Docker has 72,113 GitHub stars, 19,233 forks, 3,902 open issues and last shipped yesterday. task has 16,167 stars, 912 forks, 190 open issues and last shipped today. Docker leads on adoption by 346% (72,113 vs 16,167 stars). Docker is written in Go under Apache-2.0; task is written in Go under MIT. Docker has attracted 27% as many forks as stars, task 6%. task was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (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.
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Side by side
| Docker | task | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 72K | ★ 16K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Go | Go |
| Last push | 2026-09-19 | 2026-09-20 |
| Forks | ⑂ 19K | ⑂ 912 |
| 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 task if
- You want the task feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and task 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 task
Task is a fast, cross platform task runner and build tool, written in Go and inspired by Make, for developers and DevOps engineers who want to define and run project commands without maintaining a hand written Makefile.
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Frequently asked questions
Is Docker or task more popular?
Docker has 72,113 GitHub stars and task has 16,167. Docker has the larger community by that measure.
Are Docker and task free?
Both are open source. Docker is licensed under Apache-2.0 and task under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Docker and task?
Docker is written in Go and task 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 task?
Choose Docker if you want the larger community (72,113 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose task if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.