head to head · open source
etcd vs kvrocks
etcd has 52,441 GitHub stars, 10,552 forks, 351 open issues and last shipped yesterday. kvrocks has 4,487 stars, 688 forks, 250 open issues and last shipped yesterday. etcd leads on adoption by 1,069% (52,441 vs 4,487 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%. 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 | kvrocks | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 52K | ★ 4.5K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Go | C++ |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 11K | ⑂ 688 |
| 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 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 kvrocks
Chat on Zulip Mailing List (how to subscribe) Apache Kvrocks is a distributed key value NoSQL database that uses RocksDB as storage engine and is compatible with Redis protocol. Kvrocks intends to decrease the cost of memory and increase the capacity while compared to Redis. The design of replication and storage was inspired by rocksplicator and blackwidow. Kvrocks has the following key features: Redis Compatible: Users can access Apache Kvrocks via any Redis client. Namespace: Similar to Redis SELECT but equipped with token per namespace. Replication: Async replication using binlog like MySQL. High…
read the full kvrocks overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is etcd or kvrocks more popular?
etcd has 52,441 GitHub stars and kvrocks has 4,487. 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 (52,441 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.