head to head · open source
portainer vs CasaOS
portainer has 38,526 GitHub stars, 2,907 forks, 757 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. CasaOS has 37,240 stars, 2,190 forks, 833 open issues and last shipped 1.1 years ago. portainer leads on adoption by 3% (38,526 vs 37,240 stars). portainer is written in TypeScript under Zlib; CasaOS is written in Go under Apache-2.0. portainer has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, CasaOS 6%. portainer was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (docker), 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
| portainer | CasaOS | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 39K | ★ 37K |
| License | Zlib | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Go |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2025-08-06 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.9K | ⑂ 2.2K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick portainer if
- You weight community size — 39K stars and counting
- You want the Zlib license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick CasaOS if
- You want the CasaOS 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 CasaOS fits your workflow better
About portainer
Portainer Community Edition is a free, lightweight container management UI for Docker, Swarm, Podman, Kubernetes, and ACI environments, distributed under the zlib licence and aimed at homelab operators, hobbyists, students, and anyone experimenting with containers on their own hardware.
read the full portainer overview →
About CasaOS
CasaOS is an open source personal cloud operating system built for home servers. It provides a lightweight, user friendly interface to manage local storage, run containerized applications, and integrate smart devices—all without requiring deep technical knowledge. The project targets individuals and small households seeking autonomy over their data and infrastructure, replacing reliance on commercial cloud services with a self hosted alternative.
read the full CasaOS overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is portainer or CasaOS more popular?
portainer has 38,526 GitHub stars and CasaOS has 37,240. portainer has the larger community by that measure.
Are portainer and CasaOS free?
Both are open source. portainer is licensed under Zlib and CasaOS under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between portainer and CasaOS?
portainer is written in TypeScript and CasaOS 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, portainer or CasaOS?
Choose portainer if you want the larger community (38,526 stars) or its Zlib licence terms. Choose CasaOS if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.