head to head · open source
etcd vs kvrocks
etcd has 52,270 GitHub stars, 10,506 forks, 351 open issues and last shipped yesterday. kvrocks has 4,433 stars, 660 forks, 250 open issues and last shipped yesterday. etcd leads on adoption by 1,079% (52,270 vs 4,433 stars). etcd is written in Go under Apache-2.0; kvrocks is written in C++ under Apache-2.0. etcd has attracted 20% as many forks as stars, kvrocks 15%. kvrocks 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 | kvrocks | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 52K | ★ 4.4K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Go | C++ |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 11K | ⑂ 660 |
| 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 kvrocks if
- You want the kvrocks feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches C++
- You evaluated both and kvrocks fits your workflow better
About etcd
etcd is an Apache 2.0 licensed, Go written distributed key value store that holds the most critical data of a distributed system in a Raft replicated log, aimed at the platform and infrastructure engineers who must keep that control plane data consistent and available.
About kvrocks
Apache Kvrocks is a distributed key value NoSQL database from the Apache Software Foundation that uses RocksDB as its storage engine and speaks the Redis protocol, aimed at teams that need Redis compatible access with lower memory cost and higher capacity than an in memory deployment.
read the full kvrocks overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is etcd or kvrocks more popular?
etcd has 52,270 GitHub stars and kvrocks has 4,433. etcd has the larger community by that measure.
Are etcd and kvrocks free?
Both are open source. etcd is licensed under Apache-2.0 and kvrocks under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between etcd and kvrocks?
etcd is written in Go and kvrocks in C++. 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 kvrocks?
Choose etcd if you want the larger community (52,270 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose kvrocks if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.