head to head · open source
Docker vs terratest
Docker has 72,238 GitHub stars, 19,309 forks, 3,902 open issues and last shipped yesterday. terratest has 7,988 stars, 1,366 forks, 7 open issues and last shipped 13 days ago. Docker leads on adoption by 804% (72,238 vs 7,988 stars). Docker is written in Go under Apache-2.0; terratest is written in Go under Apache-2.0. Docker has attracted 27% as many forks as stars, terratest 17%. Docker was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (docker, 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 | terratest | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 72K | ★ 8.0K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Go | Go |
| Last push | 2026-11-03 | 2026-10-22 |
| Forks | ⑂ 19K | ⑂ 1.4K |
| 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 terratest if
- You want the terratest 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 terratest 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 terratest
Terratest Terratest is a Go library that makes it easier to write automated tests for your infrastructure code. It provides a variety of helper functions and patterns for common infrastructure testing tasks, including: Testing Terraform code Testing Packer templates Testing Docker images Executing commands on servers over SSH Working with AWS APIs Working with Azure APIs Working with GCP APIs Working with Kubernetes APIs Testing Helm Charts Making HTTP requests Running shell commands And much more Install Requires Go 1.26 or later. To lock to a specific release instead of @latest , see Pinning a Terratest…
read the full terratest overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Docker or terratest more popular?
Docker has 72,238 GitHub stars and terratest has 7,988. Docker has the larger community by that measure.
Are Docker and terratest free?
Both are open source. Docker is licensed under Apache-2.0 and terratest under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Docker and terratest?
Docker is written in Go and terratest 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 terratest?
Choose Docker if you want the larger community (72,238 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose terratest if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.