Penpot vs Process Compose

A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted developer tools & git options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.

Not the right match-up?
FeaturePenpotProcess Compose
CategoryDeveloper Tools & GitDeveloper Tools & Git
LicenseMPL-2.0Apache-2.0
LanguageClojureGo
Setup difficultyMediumEasy
Min. RAM2,048 MB64 MB
Deploymentdocker, kubernetesbinary, source
GitHub stars★ 58,249★ 2,654
First released20202022
ReplacesFigmaDocker Compose, Foreman

Why pick each one

Choose Penpot if…

  • Released under the MPL-2.0 license
  • First-class Docker support for quick deployment
  • Kubernetes-ready with Helm charts available
  • Mature project with 58.2k GitHub stars
Penpot details

Choose Process Compose if…

  • Released under the Apache-2.0 license
  • Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
  • Active community (2.7k GitHub stars)
  • Written in Go
Process Compose details

Frequently asked questions

Is Penpot or Process Compose better?

Neither is universally better. Penpot has the larger community, while Process Compose is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.

Are Penpot and Process Compose free and open-source?

Yes. Penpot is licensed under MPL-2.0 and Process Compose under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Penpot and Process Compose with Docker?

Penpot: yes. Process Compose: check the project docs for container support.

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