head to head · open source
serenity vs database-build
serenity has 33,847 GitHub stars, 3,544 forks, 739 open issues and last shipped today. database-build has 2,955 stars, 274 forks, 49 open issues and last shipped 4 months ago. serenity leads on adoption by 1,045% (33,847 vs 2,955 stars). serenity is written in C++ under BSD-2-Clause; database-build is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0. serenity has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, database-build 9%. serenity was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (browser), 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
| serenity | database-build | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 34K | ★ 3.0K |
| License | BSD-2-Clause | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | C++ | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-20 | 2026-06-03 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.5K | ⑂ 274 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick serenity if
- You weight community size — 34K stars and counting
- You want the BSD-2-Clause license terms
- Your stack matches C++
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick database-build if
- You want the database-build 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 database-build fits your workflow better
About serenity
SerenityOS is a graphical Unix like operating system built for 64 bit x86, Arm, and RISC V computers. It is written in C++ and released under the BSD 2 Clause license, and it lives in the open source operating system ecosystem alongside other hobbyist and research kernels. The project describes itself as a love letter to 1990s user interfaces paired with a custom Unix like core, aiming for a marriage between the aesthetic of late 1990s productivity software and the power user accessibility of late 2000s Unix systems.
read the full serenity overview →
About database-build
database.build is an in browser Postgres sandbox with AI assistance — formerly named postgres.new — for developers who want to spin up disposable Postgres databases without provisioning or paying for a server.
read the full database-build overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is serenity or database-build more popular?
serenity has 33,847 GitHub stars and database-build has 2,955. serenity has the larger community by that measure.
Are serenity and database-build free?
Both are open source. serenity is licensed under BSD-2-Clause and database-build under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between serenity and database-build?
serenity is written in C++ and database-build 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, serenity or database-build?
Choose serenity if you want the larger community (33,847 stars) or its BSD-2-Clause licence terms. Choose database-build if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.