head to head · open source
etcd vs pgcli
etcd has 52,441 GitHub stars, 10,552 forks, 351 open issues and last shipped yesterday. pgcli has 13,429 stars, 615 forks, 45 open issues and last shipped 10 days ago. etcd leads on adoption by 291% (52,441 vs 13,429 stars). etcd is written in Go under Apache-2.0; pgcli is written in Python under BSD-3-Clause. etcd has attracted 20% as many forks as stars, pgcli 5%. etcd was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (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 | pgcli | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 52K | ★ 13K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | BSD-3-Clause |
| Written in | Go | Python |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-10-24 |
| Forks | ⑂ 11K | ⑂ 615 |
| 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 pgcli if
- You want the pgcli feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the BSD-3-Clause license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and pgcli 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 pgcli
We stand with Ukraine Ukrainian people are fighting for their country. A lot of civilians, women and children, are suffering. Hundreds were killed and injured, and thousands were displaced. This is an image from my home town, Kharkiv. This place is right in the old city center. .. image:: screenshots/kharkiv destroyed.jpg Picture by @fomenko ph (Telegram). Please consider donating or volunteering. A REPL for Postgres This is a postgres client that does auto completion and syntax highlighting. Home Page: MySQL Equivalent: .. image:: screenshots/pgcli.gif .. image:: screenshots/image01.png Quick Start If you…
read the full pgcli overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is etcd or pgcli more popular?
etcd has 52,441 GitHub stars and pgcli has 13,429. etcd has the larger community by that measure.
Are etcd and pgcli free?
Both are open source. etcd is licensed under Apache-2.0 and pgcli under BSD-3-Clause. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between etcd and pgcli?
etcd is written in Go and pgcli in Python. 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 pgcli?
Choose etcd if you want the larger community (52,441 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose pgcli if its feature set, stack or BSD-3-Clause licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.