head to head · open source
drawDB vs Dexie.js
drawDB has 39,590 GitHub stars, 3,253 forks, 241 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. Dexie.js has 14,592 stars, 712 forks, 596 open issues and last shipped 10 days ago. drawDB leads on adoption by 171% (39,590 vs 14,592 stars). drawDB is written in JavaScript under AGPL-3.0; Dexie.js is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0. drawDB has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, Dexie.js 5%. drawDB was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (database, indexeddb), 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
| drawDB | Dexie.js | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 40K | ★ 15K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | JavaScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-10 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.3K | ⑂ 712 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick drawDB if
- You weight community size — 40K stars and counting
- You want the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Dexie.js if
- You want the Dexie.js 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 Dexie.js fits your workflow better
About drawDB
drawDB is a free, open source, browser based database entity relationship diagram (ERD) editor and SQL generator for developers, data modellers, and teams who need to design database schemas and turn them into SQL scripts without creating an account.
read the full drawDB overview →
About Dexie.js
Dexie.js is a minimalistic TypeScript wrapper around IndexedDB — the database built into every browser engine — for web developers who want a typed, offline capable data layer without touching the raw IndexedDB API, in vanilla JavaScript or in React, Svelte, Vue, Angular, Electron, Capacitor, and PWA projects.
read the full Dexie.js overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is drawDB or Dexie.js more popular?
drawDB has 39,590 GitHub stars and Dexie.js has 14,592. drawDB has the larger community by that measure.
Are drawDB and Dexie.js free?
Both are open source. drawDB is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Dexie.js under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between drawDB and Dexie.js?
drawDB is written in JavaScript and Dexie.js 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, drawDB or Dexie.js?
Choose drawDB if you want the larger community (39,590 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose Dexie.js if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.