head to head · open source
etcd vs rainfrog
etcd has 52,441 GitHub stars, 10,552 forks, 351 open issues and last shipped yesterday. rainfrog has 5,391 stars, 98 forks, 14 open issues and last shipped yesterday. etcd leads on adoption by 873% (52,441 vs 5,391 stars). etcd is written in Go under Apache-2.0; rainfrog is written in Rust under MIT. etcd has attracted 20% as many forks as stars, rainfrog 2%. etcd 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 | rainfrog | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 52K | ★ 5.4K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Go | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 11K | ⑂ 98 |
| 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 rainfrog if
- You want the rainfrog feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You evaluated both and rainfrog 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 rainfrog
🐸 rainfrog a database tool for the terminal [![Crate Badge]][Crate] [![Repo Badge]][Repo] [![License Badge]](./LICENSE) \ [![CI Badge]][CI] features the goal for rainfrog is to provide a lightweight, terminal based tool for interacting with databases. efficient navigation via vim like keybindings and mouse controls query editor with keyword highlighting, session history, and favorites quickly copy data, filter tables, and switch between schemas shortcuts to view table metadata and properties cross platform (macOS, linux, windows, android via termux) why "rainfrog"? frogs find refuge in elephant tracks supported…
read the full rainfrog overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is etcd or rainfrog more popular?
etcd has 52,441 GitHub stars and rainfrog has 5,391. etcd has the larger community by that measure.
Are etcd and rainfrog free?
Both are open source. etcd is licensed under Apache-2.0 and rainfrog under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between etcd and rainfrog?
etcd is written in Go and rainfrog in Rust. 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 rainfrog?
Choose etcd if you want the larger community (52,441 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose rainfrog if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.