head to head · open source
etcd vs Memgraph
etcd has 52,441 GitHub stars, 10,552 forks, 351 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Memgraph has 4,640 stars, 296 forks, 813 open issues and last shipped yesterday. etcd leads on adoption by 1,030% (52,441 vs 4,640 stars). etcd is written in Go under Apache-2.0; Memgraph is written in C++ under a custom or non-standard licence. etcd has attracted 20% as many forks as stars, Memgraph 6%. Memgraph 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 | Memgraph | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 52K | ★ 4.6K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Custom / other |
| Written in | Go | C++ |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 11K | ⑂ 296 |
| 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 Memgraph if
- You want the Memgraph feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches C++
- You evaluated both and Memgraph 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 Memgraph
:clipboard: Description Memgraph is a high performance, in memory graph database that powers real time AI context and graph analytics. Built in C/C++, it serves as the graph engine for GraphRAG pipelines, AI memory systems, and agentic workflows — delivering sub millisecond multi hop traversals for any system that needs structured, connected context alongside semantic vector or text search. Memgraph provides both in a single query layer: built in text and vector indexes for similarity search combined with full graph traversal, so retrieval pipelines can run as a single atomic database operation instead of being…
read the full Memgraph overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is etcd or Memgraph more popular?
etcd has 52,441 GitHub stars and Memgraph has 4,640. etcd has the larger community by that measure.
Are etcd and Memgraph free?
Both are open source. etcd is licensed under Apache-2.0, and Memgraph has no licence declared in this registry. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between etcd and Memgraph?
etcd is written in Go and Memgraph 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 Memgraph?
Choose etcd if you want the larger community (52,441 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose Memgraph if its feature set, stack or Custom / other licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.