Rundeck vs Semaphore UI
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted developer tools & git options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Rundeck
Runbook automation and self-service operations
VS
Semaphore UI
Modern web UI for Ansible, Terraform and more
| Feature | Rundeck | Semaphore UI |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 91 · Excellent | 94 · Excellent |
| Category | Developer Tools & Git | Developer Tools & Git |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Language | Groovy | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker, binary, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 6,311 | ★ 14,184 |
| First released | 2010 | 2017 |
| Replaces | Ansible Tower | Ansible Tower, AWX |
What are Rundeck and Semaphore UI?
Rundeck
Rundeck is an open-source automation service that turns operations procedures into self-service jobs. It centralizes scripts, scheduling, and access control for runbook automation.
- Self-service job runner
- Scheduling and notifications
- Access control by job
- Plugin extensibility
Semaphore UI
Semaphore UI is an open-source web interface for running Ansible playbooks, Terraform, OpenTofu, and shell scripts. It provides scheduling, access control, and an audit log for infrastructure automation.
- Web UI for Ansible and Terraform
- Task scheduling
- Role-based access
- Real-time task logs
Rundeck vs Semaphore UI: key differences
Rundeck is written in Groovy, while Semaphore UI is built with Go. Licensing differs — Apache-2.0 for Rundeck versus MIT for Semaphore UI. Semaphore UI is the lighter option, starting around 256 MB of RAM against 1,024 MB for Rundeck. Rundeck is the more established project (first released 2010), while Semaphore UI arrived in 2017. Semaphore UI has the considerably larger community, at 14,184 GitHub stars versus 6,311.
Why pick each one
Choose Rundeck if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 6.3k GitHub stars
- Written in Groovy
Choose Semaphore UI if…
- Lightweight AWX alternative
- Simple single binary
- Supports Terraform and OpenTofu
Watch out for
- Less feature-rich than AWX
- Some features Pro-only
Frequently asked questions
Is Rundeck or Semaphore UI better?
Semaphore UI is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Rundeck if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Rundeck and Semaphore UI free and open-source?
Yes. Rundeck is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Semaphore UI under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Rundeck and Semaphore UI with Docker?
Rundeck: yes. Semaphore UI: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Rundeck or Semaphore UI?
Semaphore UI has the smaller minimum footprint at 256 MB of RAM, compared to about 1,024 MB for Rundeck. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.