head to head · open source
etcd vs GreptimeDB
etcd has 52,441 GitHub stars, 10,552 forks, 351 open issues and last shipped yesterday. GreptimeDB has 6,778 stars, 576 forks, 264 open issues and last shipped yesterday. etcd leads on adoption by 674% (52,441 vs 6,778 stars). etcd is written in Go under Apache-2.0; GreptimeDB is written in Rust under Apache-2.0. etcd has attracted 20% as many forks as stars, GreptimeDB 8%. GreptimeDB was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (distributed-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 | GreptimeDB | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 52K | ★ 6.8K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Go | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 11K | ⑂ 576 |
| 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 GreptimeDB if
- You want the GreptimeDB feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You evaluated both and GreptimeDB 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 GreptimeDB
Metrics, logs, and traces. One engine, on your infrastructure. A columnar database for metrics, logs, and traces on object storage. Apache 2.0 licensed core. User Guide API Docs Roadmap 2026 stable for production · canary includes pre releases · nightly is a weekly snapshot of main Introduction Why You Might Use It Overview What's Supported Compatibility and Migration Limitations and Edition Boundary Architecture Try GreptimeDB Getting Started Build From Source Tools & Extensions Project Status Community License Commercial Support Contributing Acknowledgement Introduction GreptimeDB is an open source…
read the full GreptimeDB overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is etcd or GreptimeDB more popular?
etcd has 52,441 GitHub stars and GreptimeDB has 6,778. etcd has the larger community by that measure.
Are etcd and GreptimeDB free?
Both are open source. etcd is licensed under Apache-2.0 and GreptimeDB under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between etcd and GreptimeDB?
etcd is written in Go and GreptimeDB in Rust. 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 GreptimeDB?
Choose etcd if you want the larger community (52,441 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose GreptimeDB if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.