head to head · open source
etcd vs redka
etcd has 52,441 GitHub stars, 10,552 forks, 351 open issues and last shipped yesterday. redka has 4,567 stars, 136 forks, 0 open issues and last shipped 9 months ago. etcd leads on adoption by 1,048% (52,441 vs 4,567 stars). etcd is written in Go under Apache-2.0; redka is written in Go under BSD-3-Clause. etcd has attracted 20% as many forks as stars, redka 3%. 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, 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 | redka | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 52K | ★ 4.6K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | BSD-3-Clause |
| Written in | Go | Go |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-02-04 |
| Forks | ⑂ 11K | ⑂ 136 |
| 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 redka if
- You want the redka feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the BSD-3-Clause license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and redka 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 redka
Redka reimplements the core parts of Redis with SQL, while remaining compatible with Redis API. Highlights: Data doesn't have to fit in RAM. Supports ACID transactions. SQL views for easier analysis and reporting. Uses SQLite or PostgreSQL as a backend. Runs in process (Go API) or as a standalone server. Implements Redis commands and wire protocol (RESP). Redka is stable and ready to use for testing and non critical production scenarios. It's currently in maintenance mode, and no new features are planned. Use cases Here are some situations where Redka might be helpful: Embedded cache for Go applications . If…
read the full redka overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is etcd or redka more popular?
etcd has 52,441 GitHub stars and redka has 4,567. etcd has the larger community by that measure.
Are etcd and redka free?
Both are open source. etcd is licensed under Apache-2.0 and redka under BSD-3-Clause. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between etcd and redka?
etcd is written in Go and redka 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 redka?
Choose etcd if you want the larger community (52,441 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose redka if its feature set, stack or BSD-3-Clause licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.