head to head · open source
Bluesky vs databag
Bluesky has 18,364 GitHub stars, 2,872 forks, 2,400 open issues and last shipped yesterday. databag has 1,510 stars, 100 forks, 59 open issues and last shipped 5 months ago. Bluesky leads on adoption by 1,116% (18,364 vs 1,510 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 7%. 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.
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Side by side
| Bluesky | databag | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 18K | ★ 1.5K |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-06-14 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.9K | ⑂ 100 |
| 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 Social App Welcome friends! This is the codebase for the Bluesky Social app. Get the app itself: Web: bsky.app iOS: App Store Android: Play Store Development Resources This is a React Native application, written in the TypeScript programming language. It builds on the atproto TypeScript packages (like @atproto/api ), which are also open source, but in a different git repository. There is a small amount of Go language source code (in ./bskyweb/ ), for a web service that returns the React Native Web application. The Build Instructions are a good place to get started with the app itself. The Authenticated…
read the full Bluesky overview →
About databag
Databag A federated messenger for self hosting Design Overview Mobile and Browser App Screens Databag is designed for efficiency, consuming minimal hosting resources. Notable features include: Decentralized (direct communication between app and server node) Federated (accounts on different nodes can communicate) Public Private key based identity (not bound to any blockchain or hosting domain) End to End encryption (the hosting admin cannot view topics if sealed) Audio and Video Calls (nat traversal requires separate relay server) Topic based threads (messages organized by topic not contacts) Unlimited…
read the full databag overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Bluesky or databag more popular?
Bluesky has 18,364 GitHub stars and databag has 1,510. 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 (18,364 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose databag if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.