head to head · open source
etcd vs rqlite
etcd has 52,441 GitHub stars, 10,552 forks, 351 open issues and last shipped yesterday. rqlite has 17,906 stars, 823 forks, 79 open issues and last shipped yesterday. etcd leads on adoption by 193% (52,441 vs 17,906 stars). etcd is written in Go under Apache-2.0; rqlite is written in Go under MIT. etcd has attracted 20% as many forks as stars, rqlite 5%. etcd was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 6 topic tags (consensus, database, distributed-database, distributed-systems), 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 | rqlite | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 52K | ★ 18K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Go | Go |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 11K | ⑂ 823 |
| 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 rqlite if
- You want the rqlite feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and rqlite 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 rqlite
rqlite is a feature rich, rock solid, fault tolerant, distributed relational database built on SQLite. It's lightweight , developer friendly , and exceptionally easy to operate , offering effortless installation and deployment. Use rqlite to reliably store your most important data, ensuring it's always available to your applications think etcd, but with relational modeling available. Whether you're deploying resilient services in the cloud or reliable applications at the edge , rqlite provides a robust solution for critical data. Website · Slack Quick Start Check out the full Quick Start guide 1. Run a rqlite…
read the full rqlite overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is etcd or rqlite more popular?
etcd has 52,441 GitHub stars and rqlite has 17,906. etcd has the larger community by that measure.
Are etcd and rqlite free?
Both are open source. etcd is licensed under Apache-2.0 and rqlite under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between etcd and rqlite?
etcd is written in Go and rqlite 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 rqlite?
Choose etcd if you want the larger community (52,441 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose rqlite if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.