head to head · open source
CrateDB vs tagreader
CrateDB has 4,436 GitHub stars, 617 forks, 332 open issues and last shipped yesterday. tagreader has 1,607 stars, 212 forks, 48 open issues and last shipped 5 months ago. CrateDB leads on adoption by 176% (4,436 vs 1,607 stars). CrateDB is written in Java under Apache-2.0; tagreader is written in Shell under GPL-3.0. CrateDB has attracted 14% as many forks as stars, tagreader 13%. CrateDB 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
| CrateDB | tagreader | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 4.4K | ★ 1.6K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Java | Shell |
| Last push | 2026-09-21 | 2026-04-27 |
| Forks | ⑂ 617 | ⑂ 212 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick CrateDB if
- You weight community size — 4.4K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Java
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick tagreader if
- You want the tagreader feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Shell
- You evaluated both and tagreader fits your workflow better
About CrateDB
CrateDB is a distributed, scalable SQL database built for storing and analyzing massive amounts of data in near real time, including complex queries. It is written in Java, licensed under Apache 2.0, and based on Lucene. The project combines the benefits of an SQL database with the scalability and flexibility typically associated with NoSQL databases, and it is PostgreSQL compatible, speaking the PostgreSQL wire protocol as well as offering an HTTP API. It lives in the analytics, big data, and IoT ecosystem, and the topic list places it alongside distributed SQL databases, Elasticsearch, industrial IoT, and IoT a…
read the full CrateDB overview →
About tagreader
tagreader is a GPL 3.0 NFC tag reader built from an ESP8266 D1 Mini and a PN532 module running ESPHome firmware, created specifically so that Home Assistant users can scan physical tags and manage them inside Home Assistant.
read the full tagreader overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is CrateDB or tagreader more popular?
CrateDB has 4,436 GitHub stars and tagreader has 1,607. CrateDB has the larger community by that measure.
Are CrateDB and tagreader free?
Both are open source. CrateDB is licensed under Apache-2.0 and tagreader under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between CrateDB and tagreader?
CrateDB is written in Java and tagreader in Shell. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, CrateDB or tagreader?
Choose CrateDB if you want the larger community (4,436 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose tagreader if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.