head to head · open source
etcd vs Mathesar
etcd has 52,270 GitHub stars, 10,504 forks, 351 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Mathesar has 5,124 stars, 485 forks, 317 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. etcd leads on adoption by 920% (52,270 vs 5,124 stars). etcd is written in Go under Apache-2.0; Mathesar is written in Svelte under GPL-3.0. etcd has attracted 20% as many forks as stars, Mathesar 9%. etcd was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
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 | Mathesar | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 52K | ★ 5.1K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Go | Svelte |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-16 |
| Forks | ⑂ 11K | ⑂ 485 |
| 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 Mathesar if
- You want the Mathesar feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Svelte
- You evaluated both and Mathesar 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 Mathesar
Mathesar is a self hosted, open source web application that provides a spreadsheet like interface for PostgreSQL databases, designed for users of all technical skill levels to view, edit, query, and collaborate on data without writing code.
read the full Mathesar overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is etcd or Mathesar more popular?
etcd has 52,270 GitHub stars and Mathesar has 5,124. etcd has the larger community by that measure.
Are etcd and Mathesar free?
Both are open source. etcd is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Mathesar under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between etcd and Mathesar?
etcd is written in Go and Mathesar in Svelte. 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 Mathesar?
Choose etcd if you want the larger community (52,270 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose Mathesar if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.