head to head · open source
etcd vs rxdb
etcd has 52,441 GitHub stars, 10,552 forks, 351 open issues and last shipped yesterday. rxdb has 23,424 stars, 1,183 forks, 17 open issues and last shipped yesterday. etcd leads on adoption by 124% (52,441 vs 23,424 stars). etcd is written in Go under Apache-2.0; rxdb is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0. etcd has attracted 20% as many forks as stars, rxdb 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 | rxdb | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 52K | ★ 23K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Go | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 11K | ⑂ 1.2K |
| 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 rxdb if
- You want the rxdb feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and rxdb 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 rxdb
A fast, local first , reactive Database for JavaScript Applications What is RxDB? RxDB (short for R eactive D ata b ase) is a local first , NoSQL database for JavaScript Applications. Reactive means that you can not only query the current state, but subscribe to all state changes like the result of a query or even a single field of a document. This is great for UI based realtime applications in a way that makes it easy to develop and also has great performance benefits. Use the quickstart, read the documentation or explore the example projects. Used by many RxDB is a proven technology used by thousands of…
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Frequently asked questions
Is etcd or rxdb more popular?
etcd has 52,441 GitHub stars and rxdb has 23,424. etcd has the larger community by that measure.
Are etcd and rxdb free?
Both are open source. etcd is licensed under Apache-2.0 and rxdb under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between etcd and rxdb?
etcd is written in Go and rxdb in TypeScript. 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 rxdb?
Choose etcd if you want the larger community (52,441 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose rxdb if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.