head to head · open source
etcd vs olric
etcd has 52,441 GitHub stars, 10,552 forks, 351 open issues and last shipped yesterday. olric has 3,503 stars, 155 forks, 22 open issues and last shipped 3 months ago. etcd leads on adoption by 1,397% (52,441 vs 3,503 stars). etcd is written in Go under Apache-2.0; olric is written in Go under Apache-2.0. etcd has attracted 20% as many forks as stars, olric 4%. etcd was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 4 topic tags (database, distributed-database, distributed-systems, key-value), 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 | olric | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 52K | ★ 3.5K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Go | Go |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-08-20 |
| Forks | ⑂ 11K | ⑂ 155 |
| 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 olric if
- You want the olric feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and olric 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 olric
Olric Distributed In Memory Cache & Key/Value Store Olric provides a simple way to create a fast, scalable, and shared pool of RAM across a cluster of machines. It's a distributed, in memory key/value store and cache, written entirely in Go and designed specifically for distributed environments. Flexible Deployment: Embedded Go Library: Integrate Olric directly into your Go applications. Standalone Service: Run Olric as a language independent service. Key Features: Effortless Scalability: Designed to handle hundreds of members and thousands of clients. New nodes auto discover the cluster and linearly increase…
read the full olric overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is etcd or olric more popular?
etcd has 52,441 GitHub stars and olric has 3,503. etcd has the larger community by that measure.
Are etcd and olric free?
Both are open source. etcd is licensed under Apache-2.0 and olric under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between etcd and olric?
etcd is written in Go and olric 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 olric?
Choose etcd if you want the larger community (52,441 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose olric if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.