head to head · open source
TiDB vs AITable
TiDB has 40,541 GitHub stars, 6,242 forks, 6,976 open issues and last shipped yesterday. AITable has 15,606 stars, 1,426 forks, 307 open issues and last shipped 12 days ago. TiDB leads on adoption by 160% (40,541 vs 15,606 stars). TiDB is written in Go under Apache-2.0; AITable is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0. TiDB has attracted 15% as many forks as stars, AITable 9%. TiDB was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (hacktoberfest), 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
| TiDB | AITable | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 41K | ★ 16K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Go | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-06 |
| Forks | ⑂ 6.2K | ⑂ 1.4K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick TiDB if
- You weight community size — 41K 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 AITable if
- You want the AITable feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and AITable fits your workflow better
About TiDB
TiDB is an open source, cloud native, distributed SQL database written in Go and licensed under Apache 2.0, aimed at teams that need ACID transactions, real time analytics, and vector search at scale without data silos.
About AITable
AITable is an open source, API oriented low code platform for building collaborative applications and visual databases. The project is described as APITable in its GitHub summary and is positioned as an Airtable alternative within a TypeScript ecosystem that includes NextJS and NestJS, with Java Spring Boot also mentioned as a community friendly option.
read the full AITable overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is TiDB or AITable more popular?
TiDB has 40,541 GitHub stars and AITable has 15,606. TiDB has the larger community by that measure.
Are TiDB and AITable free?
Both are open source. TiDB is licensed under Apache-2.0 and AITable under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between TiDB and AITable?
TiDB is written in Go and AITable in TypeScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, TiDB or AITable?
Choose TiDB if you want the larger community (40,541 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose AITable if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.