head to head · open source
Airbyte vs Addax
Airbyte has 22,082 GitHub stars, 5,350 forks, 2,395 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Addax has 1,439 stars, 343 forks, 5 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Airbyte leads on adoption by 1,435% (22,082 vs 1,439 stars). Airbyte is written in Python under a custom or non-standard licence; Addax is written in Java under Apache-2.0. Airbyte has attracted 24% as many forks as stars, Addax 24%. Airbyte was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (data-integration, etl), 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
| Airbyte | Addax | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 22K | ★ 1.4K |
| License | Custom / other | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Python | Java |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.3K | ⑂ 343 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Airbyte if
- You weight community size — 22K stars and counting
- You want the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Addax if
- You want the Addax feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Java
- You evaluated both and Addax fits your workflow better
About Airbyte
Airbyte open source data movement project. It lives in data engineering and data integration ecosystem. It moves data from APIs, databases, and files into warehouses, data lakes, and AI applications. It supports ELT and ETL pipelines. It also supports AI agents needing business data.
read the full Airbyte overview →
About Addax
Addax is an open source, Java based ETL tool for moving data between relational databases, NoSQL stores, file formats, and big data systems. It is an actively maintained fork of Alibaba DataX, which the README describes as frozen since 2023, and it is positioned as the maintained successor for users who need continued updates, dependency fixes, and plugin development in the DataX ecosystem.
read the full Addax overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Airbyte or Addax more popular?
Airbyte has 22,082 GitHub stars and Addax has 1,439. Airbyte has the larger community by that measure.
Are Airbyte and Addax free?
Both are open source. Airbyte has no licence declared in this registry, and Addax is licensed under Apache-2.0. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Airbyte and Addax?
Airbyte is written in Python and Addax in Java. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Airbyte or Addax?
Choose Airbyte if you want the larger community (22,082 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose Addax if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.