head to head · open source
parse-server vs cloudserver
parse-server has 21,397 GitHub stars, 4,813 forks, 561 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. cloudserver has 1,955 stars, 258 forks, 113 open issues and last shipped yesterday. parse-server leads on adoption by 994% (21,397 vs 1,955 stars). parse-server is written in JavaScript under Apache-2.0; cloudserver is written in JavaScript under Apache-2.0. parse-server has attracted 22% as many forks as stars, cloudserver 13%. cloudserver was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (nodejs), 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
| parse-server | cloudserver | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 21K | ★ 2.0K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | JavaScript | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-01 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.8K | ⑂ 258 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick parse-server if
- You weight community size — 21K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick cloudserver if
- You want the cloudserver feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and cloudserver fits your workflow better
About parse-server
[ ][open collective link] [ ][open collective link] Parse Server is an open source backend that can be deployed to any infrastructure that can run Node.js. Parse Server works with the Express web application framework. It can be added to existing web applications, or run by itself. The full documentation for Parse Server is available in the wiki. The Parse Server guide is a good place to get started. An API reference and Cloud Code guide are also available. If you're interested in developing for Parse Server, the Development guide will help you get set up. A big thank you 🙏 to our sponsors and backers who…
read the full parse-server overview →
About cloudserver
Zenko CloudServer [![Docker Pulls][badgedocker]]( [![Docker Pulls][badgetwitter]]( Overview CloudServer (formerly S3 Server) is an open source Amazon S3 compatible object storage server that is part of Zenko, Scality’s Open Source Multi Cloud Data Controller. CloudServer provides a single AWS S3 API interface to access multiple backend data storage both on premise or public in the cloud. CloudServer is useful for Developers, either to run as part of a continous integration test environment to emulate the AWS S3 service locally or as an abstraction layer to develop object storage enabled application on the go…
read the full cloudserver overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is parse-server or cloudserver more popular?
parse-server has 21,397 GitHub stars and cloudserver has 1,955. parse-server has the larger community by that measure.
Are parse-server and cloudserver free?
Both are open source. parse-server is licensed under Apache-2.0 and cloudserver under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between parse-server and cloudserver?
parse-server is written in JavaScript and cloudserver in JavaScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, parse-server or cloudserver?
Choose parse-server if you want the larger community (21,397 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose cloudserver if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.