Both libraries are free and open source, and both do the hard parts (downsampling, two cache levels, cancellation, lifecycle awareness) well. The differences are in fit:
| Coil 3.6.3 | Glide 5.0.9 | |
|---|---|---|
| Language, API | Kotlin, coroutines | Java, callbacks and builders |
| Compose 234 support | AsyncImage, stable | GlideImage, beta |
| Platforms | Android, JVM, iOS, JS, Wasm | Android only |
| Networking | OkHttp 47,077 or Ktor 274,728 , pluggable | HttpUrlConnection, OkHttp optional |
| Default timeout | OkHttp's 10 s | 2.5 s |
| License | Apache 2.0 | BSD, parts MIT and Apache 2.0 |
| GitHub 29 stars | about 11,900 | about 35,000 |
For a new Compose app, and certainly for one that may share UI through Compose Multiplatform 25,990 (Kotlin Multiplatform), choose Coil. Keep Glide in a View-based app that already uses it. Other options exist: Fresco 17,155 from Meta, strong on progressive JPEGs and animated images, and Picasso 18,785 from Square, now deprecated, with a README that points to Coil. Commercial image CDNs such as Cloudinary 976 or imgix complement a loader by resizing on the server.