head to head · open source
etcd vs gel
etcd has 52,441 GitHub stars, 10,552 forks, 351 open issues and last shipped yesterday. gel has 14,180 stars, 454 forks, 948 open issues and last shipped 10 months ago. etcd leads on adoption by 270% (52,441 vs 14,180 stars). etcd is written in Go under Apache-2.0; gel is written in Python under Apache-2.0. etcd has attracted 20% as many forks as stars, gel 3%. etcd was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (database), 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 | gel | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 52K | ★ 14K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Go | Python |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2025-12-24 |
| Forks | ⑂ 11K | ⑂ 454 |
| 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 gel if
- You want the gel feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and gel 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 gel
Gel Learn: build an app with Gel • Website • Docs • Blog • Discord • Twitter What is Gel? Gel is a new kind of database that takes the best parts of relational databases, graph databases, and ORMs. We call it a graph relational database . 🧩 Types, not tables 🧩 Schema is the foundation of your application. It should be something you can read, write, and understand. Forget foreign keys; tabular data modeling is a relic of an older age, and it isn't compatible with modern languages. Instead, Gel thinks about schema the same way you do: as object types containing properties connected by links . This example is…
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Frequently asked questions
Is etcd or gel more popular?
etcd has 52,441 GitHub stars and gel has 14,180. etcd has the larger community by that measure.
Are etcd and gel free?
Both are open source. etcd is licensed under Apache-2.0 and gel under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between etcd and gel?
etcd is written in Go and gel in Python. 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 gel?
Choose etcd if you want the larger community (52,441 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose gel if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.