head to head · open source
etcd vs mysql
etcd has 52,441 GitHub stars, 10,552 forks, 351 open issues and last shipped yesterday. mysql has 15,274 stars, 2,340 forks, 57 open issues and last shipped 4 days ago. etcd leads on adoption by 243% (52,441 vs 15,274 stars). etcd is written in Go under Apache-2.0; mysql is written in Go under MPL-2.0. etcd has attracted 20% as many forks as stars, mysql 15%. etcd was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (database, go), 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 | mysql | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 52K | ★ 15K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MPL-2.0 |
| Written in | Go | Go |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-10-30 |
| Forks | ⑂ 11K | ⑂ 2.3K |
| 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 mysql if
- You want the mysql feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MPL-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and mysql 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 mysql
Go MySQL Driver A MySQL Driver for Go's database/sql package Features Requirements Installation Usage DSN (Data Source Name) Password Protocol Address Parameters Examples Connection pool and timeouts context.Context Support ColumnType Support LOAD DATA LOCAL INFILE support time.Time support Unicode support Testing / Development License Features Lightweight and fast Native Go implementation. No C bindings, just pure Go Connections over TCP/IPv4, TCP/IPv6, Unix domain sockets or custom protocols Automatic handling of broken connections Automatic Connection Pooling (by database/sql package) Supports queries larger…
read the full mysql overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is etcd or mysql more popular?
etcd has 52,441 GitHub stars and mysql has 15,274. etcd has the larger community by that measure.
Are etcd and mysql free?
Both are open source. etcd is licensed under Apache-2.0 and mysql under MPL-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between etcd and mysql?
etcd is written in Go and mysql in Go. 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 mysql?
Choose etcd if you want the larger community (52,441 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose mysql if its feature set, stack or MPL-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.