head to head · open source
compose vs Temporal
compose has 38,175 GitHub stars, 5,817 forks, 111 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Temporal has 23,133 stars, 1,905 forks, 956 open issues and last shipped yesterday. compose leads on adoption by 65% (38,175 vs 23,133 stars). compose is written in Go under Apache-2.0; Temporal is written in Go under MIT. compose has attracted 15% as many forks as stars, Temporal 8%. Temporal was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (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
| compose | Temporal | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 38K | ★ 23K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Go | Go |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.8K | ⑂ 1.9K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick compose if
- You weight community size — 38K 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 Temporal if
- You want the Temporal feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and Temporal fits your workflow better
About compose
Docker Compose is an Apache 2.0 licensed Go tool that defines and runs multi container applications on Docker from a single Compose file, aimed at developers and operators who need several containers to start together as one isolated application.
read the full compose overview →
About Temporal
Temporal is a durable execution platform for building resilient applications with workflows. It lives in the infrastructure and operations ecosystem, specifically within orchestration and scheduling. The server executes units of application logic called Workflows and automatically handles intermittent failures by retrying failed operations. Temporal originated as a fork of Uber's Cadence and is developed by Temporal Technologies, a startup formed by the creators of Cadence.
read the full Temporal overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is compose or Temporal more popular?
compose has 38,175 GitHub stars and Temporal has 23,133. compose has the larger community by that measure.
Are compose and Temporal free?
Both are open source. compose is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Temporal under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between compose and Temporal?
compose is written in Go and Temporal 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, compose or Temporal?
Choose compose if you want the larger community (38,175 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose Temporal if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.