head to head · open source
Budibase vs KeystoneJS
Budibase has 28,289 GitHub stars, 2,218 forks, 276 open issues and last shipped yesterday. KeystoneJS has 9,974 stars, 1,263 forks, 138 open issues and last shipped 4 days ago. Budibase leads on adoption by 184% (28,289 vs 9,974 stars). Budibase is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence; KeystoneJS is written in TypeScript under MIT. Budibase has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, KeystoneJS 13%. Budibase 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
| Budibase | KeystoneJS | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 28K | ★ 10.0K |
| License | Custom / other | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-14 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.2K | ⑂ 1.3K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Budibase if
- You weight community size — 28K stars and counting
- You want the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick KeystoneJS if
- You want the KeystoneJS feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and KeystoneJS fits your workflow better
About Budibase
Budibase is an open source low code platform for building internal tools, data apps, and AI powered agents that automate operational workflows. It lives in the low code/no code ecosystem and serves as a self hostable alternative to proprietary platforms like Retool.
read the full Budibase overview →
About KeystoneJS
KeystoneJS is an open source Node.js CMS and application framework written in TypeScript and licensed under the MIT License. It lives in the Node.js, GraphQL, and React ecosystem, and its GitHub description calls it a headless CMS for Node.js. The project addresses the need to build a custom back end without writing all of the common content management plumbing by hand.
read the full KeystoneJS overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Budibase or KeystoneJS more popular?
Budibase has 28,289 GitHub stars and KeystoneJS has 9,974. Budibase has the larger community by that measure.
Are Budibase and KeystoneJS free?
Both are open source. Budibase has no licence declared in this registry, and KeystoneJS is licensed under MIT. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Budibase and KeystoneJS?
Budibase is written in TypeScript and KeystoneJS 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, Budibase or KeystoneJS?
Choose Budibase if you want the larger community (28,289 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose KeystoneJS if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.