head to head · open source
Docker vs terratest
Docker has 72,113 GitHub stars, 19,233 forks, 3,902 open issues and last shipped yesterday. terratest has 7,947 stars, 1,371 forks, 7 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Docker leads on adoption by 807% (72,113 vs 7,947 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 | ★ 7.9K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Go | Go |
| Last push | 2026-09-19 | 2026-09-19 |
| 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
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 terratest
Terratest is an Apache 2.0 Go library maintained by Gruntwork that provides helper functions and patterns for writing automated tests against infrastructure code, and it is aimed at engineers who validate Terraform modules, Packer templates, Docker images, Kubernetes resources and AWS, Azure or GCP infrastructure inside a Go test suite.
read the full terratest overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Docker or terratest more popular?
Docker has 72,113 GitHub stars and terratest has 7,947. 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 (72,113 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.