head to head · open source
Bluesky vs databag
Bluesky has 18,295 GitHub stars, 2,837 forks, 2,400 open issues and last shipped yesterday. databag has 1,489 stars, 95 forks, 59 open issues and last shipped 3 months ago. Bluesky leads on adoption by 1,129% (18,295 vs 1,489 stars). Bluesky is written in TypeScript under MIT; databag is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0. Bluesky has attracted 16% as many forks as stars, databag 6%. Bluesky was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
← all 8884 open source comparisons
Side by side
| Bluesky | databag | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 18K | ★ 1.5K |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-06-14 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.8K | ⑂ 95 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Bluesky if
- You weight community size — 18K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick databag if
- You want the databag feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and databag fits your workflow better
About Bluesky
Bluesky is the open source social application codebase for the Bluesky Social app. It lives in the AT Protocol ecosystem, also called atproto, and it is written in TypeScript as a React Native application. The project provides client code for Web, iOS, and Android, and it builds on open source atproto packages such as @atproto/api, which live in a separate repository.
read the full Bluesky overview →
About databag
Databag is a fast and lightweight self hosted messenger written in TypeScript under the Apache 2.0 license. It belongs to the community and social networking ecosystem, with topics spanning decentralized web, federated chat, mobile messenger, and self hosted server projects. Clients are available through F Droid as well as the Google and Apple stores.
read the full databag overview →
More in Community & Social
Related comparisons
More Social Networking projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Social Networking field.
Frequently asked questions
Is Bluesky or databag more popular?
Bluesky has 18,295 GitHub stars and databag has 1,489. Bluesky has the larger community by that measure.
Are Bluesky and databag free?
Both are open source. Bluesky is licensed under MIT and databag under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Bluesky and databag?
Bluesky is written in TypeScript and databag 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, Bluesky or databag?
Choose Bluesky if you want the larger community (18,295 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose databag if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.