head to head · open source
etcd vs bun
etcd has 52,441 GitHub stars, 10,552 forks, 351 open issues and last shipped yesterday. bun has 5,004 stars, 316 forks, 38 open issues and last shipped 5 days ago. etcd leads on adoption by 948% (52,441 vs 5,004 stars). etcd is written in Go under Apache-2.0; bun is written in Go under BSD-2-Clause. etcd has attracted 20% as many forks as stars, bun 6%. etcd was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (database, go), 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
| etcd | bun | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 52K | ★ 5.0K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | BSD-2-Clause |
| Written in | Go | Go |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-10-29 |
| Forks | ⑂ 11K | ⑂ 316 |
| 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 bun if
- You want the bun feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the BSD-2-Clause license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and bun 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 bun
Bun: SQL first Golang ORM Lightweight, SQL first Golang ORM for PostgreSQL, MySQL, MSSQL, SQLite, and Oracle Bun is a modern ORM that embraces SQL rather than hiding it. Write complex queries in Go with type safety, powerful scanning capabilities, and database agnostic code that works across multiple SQL databases. ✨ Key Features SQL first approach Write elegant, readable queries that feel like SQL Multi database support PostgreSQL, MySQL/MariaDB, MSSQL, SQLite, and Oracle Type safe operations Leverage Go's static typing for compile time safety Flexible scanning Query results into structs, maps, scalars, or…
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Frequently asked questions
Is etcd or bun more popular?
etcd has 52,441 GitHub stars and bun has 5,004. etcd has the larger community by that measure.
Are etcd and bun free?
Both are open source. etcd is licensed under Apache-2.0 and bun under BSD-2-Clause. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between etcd and bun?
etcd is written in Go and bun in Go. 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 bun?
Choose etcd if you want the larger community (52,441 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose bun if its feature set, stack or BSD-2-Clause licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.