head to head · open source
etcd vs lowdb
etcd has 52,441 GitHub stars, 10,552 forks, 351 open issues and last shipped yesterday. lowdb has 22,584 stars, 962 forks, 16 open issues and last shipped 7 months ago. etcd leads on adoption by 132% (52,441 vs 22,584 stars). etcd is written in Go under Apache-2.0; lowdb is written in JavaScript under MIT. etcd has attracted 20% as many forks as stars, lowdb 4%. 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 | lowdb | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 52K | ★ 23K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Go | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-03-27 |
| Forks | ⑂ 11K | ⑂ 962 |
| 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 lowdb if
- You want the lowdb feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and lowdb 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 lowdb
lowdb Simple to use type safe local JSON database 🦉 If you know JavaScript, you know how to use lowdb. Read or create db.json Use plain JavaScript to change data In the same spirit, query using native Array functions: It's that simple. db.data is just a JavaScript object, no magic. Sponsors Become a sponsor and have your company logo here 👉 GitHub Sponsors Features Lightweight Minimalist TypeScript Plain JavaScript Safe atomic writes Hackable: Change storage, file format (JSON, YAML, ...) or add encryption via adapters Extend it with lodash, ramda, ... for super powers! Automatically switches to fast in memory…
read the full lowdb overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is etcd or lowdb more popular?
etcd has 52,441 GitHub stars and lowdb has 22,584. etcd has the larger community by that measure.
Are etcd and lowdb free?
Both are open source. etcd is licensed under Apache-2.0 and lowdb under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between etcd and lowdb?
etcd is written in Go and lowdb in JavaScript. 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 lowdb?
Choose etcd if you want the larger community (52,441 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose lowdb if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.