head to head · open source
etcd vs realm-swift
etcd has 52,270 GitHub stars, 10,506 forks, 351 open issues and last shipped today. realm-swift has 16,609 stars, 2,241 forks, 499 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. etcd leads on adoption by 215% (52,270 vs 16,609 stars). etcd is written in Go under Apache-2.0; realm-swift is written in Objective-C under Apache-2.0. etcd has attracted 20% as many forks as stars, realm-swift 13%. 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.
← all 8884 open source comparisons
Side by side
| etcd | realm-swift | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 52K | ★ 17K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Go | Objective-C |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-15 |
| Forks | ⑂ 11K | ⑂ 2.2K |
| 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 realm-swift if
- You want the realm-swift feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Objective-C
- You evaluated both and realm-swift fits your workflow better
About etcd
etcd is an Apache 2.0 licensed, Go written distributed key value store that holds the most critical data of a distributed system in a Raft replicated log, aimed at the platform and infrastructure engineers who must keep that control plane data consistent and available.
About realm-swift
Realm Database is a mobile database that runs directly inside phones, tablets, and wearables, and it is for iOS, macOS, tvOS, and watchOS developers who need a replacement for Core Data and SQLite.
read the full realm-swift overview →
More in Infrastructure & Operations
Related comparisons
More Databases projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Databases field.
Frequently asked questions
Is etcd or realm-swift more popular?
etcd has 52,270 GitHub stars and realm-swift has 16,609. etcd has the larger community by that measure.
Are etcd and realm-swift free?
Both are open source. etcd is licensed under Apache-2.0 and realm-swift under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between etcd and realm-swift?
etcd is written in Go and realm-swift in Objective-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 realm-swift?
Choose etcd if you want the larger community (52,270 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose realm-swift if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.