head to head · open source
etcd vs OceanBase
etcd has 52,441 GitHub stars, 10,552 forks, 351 open issues and last shipped yesterday. OceanBase has 10,363 stars, 1,930 forks, 599 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. etcd leads on adoption by 406% (52,441 vs 10,363 stars). etcd is written in Go under Apache-2.0; OceanBase is written in C++ under Apache-2.0. etcd has attracted 20% as many forks as stars, OceanBase 19%. 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, distributed-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 | OceanBase | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 52K | ★ 10K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Go | C++ |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-10-31 |
| Forks | ⑂ 11K | ⑂ 1.9K |
| 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 OceanBase if
- You want the OceanBase 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 OceanBase 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 OceanBase
English 中文版 OceanBase Database is a distributed relational database. It is developed entirely by Ant Group. The OceanBase Database is built on a common server cluster. Based on the Paxos protocol and its distributed structure, the OceanBase Database provides high availability and linear scalability. The OceanBase Database is not dependent on specific hardware architectures. Key features Transparent Scalability : 1,500 nodes, PB data and a trillion rows of records in one cluster. Ultra fast Performance : TPC C 707 million tmpC and TPC H 15.26 million QphH @30000GB. Cost Efficiency : saves 70%–90% of storage…
read the full OceanBase overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is etcd or OceanBase more popular?
etcd has 52,441 GitHub stars and OceanBase has 10,363. etcd has the larger community by that measure.
Are etcd and OceanBase free?
Both are open source. etcd is licensed under Apache-2.0 and OceanBase under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between etcd and OceanBase?
etcd is written in Go and OceanBase 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 OceanBase?
Choose etcd if you want the larger community (52,441 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose OceanBase if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.