head to head · open source
etcd vs aleph
etcd has 52,441 GitHub stars, 10,552 forks, 351 open issues and last shipped yesterday. aleph has 2,499 stars, 369 forks, 371 open issues and last shipped 9 months ago. etcd leads on adoption by 1,998% (52,441 vs 2,499 stars). etcd is written in Go under Apache-2.0; aleph is written in JavaScript under MIT. etcd has attracted 20% as many forks as stars, aleph 15%. etcd 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
| etcd | aleph | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 52K | ★ 2.5K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Go | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-02-20 |
| Forks | ⑂ 11K | ⑂ 369 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick etcd if
- You weight community size — 52K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick aleph if
- You want the aleph feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and aleph fits your workflow better
About etcd
etcd Note : The main branch may be in an unstable or even broken state during development. For stable versions, see [releases][github release]. etcd is a distributed reliable key value store for the most critical data of a distributed system, with a focus on being: Simple : well defined, user facing API (gRPC) Secure : automatic TLS with optional client cert authentication Fast : benchmarked 10,000 writes/sec Reliable : properly distributed using Raft etcd is written in Go and uses the [Raft][] consensus algorithm to manage a highly available replicated log. etcd is used in production by many companies, and the…
About aleph
.. epigraph:: Truth cannot penetrate a closed mind. If all places in the universe are in the Aleph, then all stars, all lamps, all sources of light are in it, too. The Aleph , Jorge Luis Borges :warning: PROJECT STATUS: SUNSETTING :warning: Our involvement with this open source project is being sunsetted. Maintenance of this version will officially end after December 2025. Why? This decision marks a significant strategic shift for us. Over the past year, our team has completely rewritten the Aleph codebase from scratch to launch Aleph Pro. As we transition to this new supported platform, we are focusing our…
read the full aleph overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is etcd or aleph more popular?
etcd has 52,441 GitHub stars and aleph has 2,499. etcd has the larger community by that measure.
Are etcd and aleph free?
Both are open source. etcd is licensed under Apache-2.0 and aleph under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between etcd and aleph?
etcd is written in Go and aleph 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, etcd or aleph?
Choose etcd if you want the larger community (52,441 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose aleph if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.