head to head · open source
etcd vs tbls
etcd has 52,441 GitHub stars, 10,552 forks, 351 open issues and last shipped yesterday. tbls has 4,372 stars, 216 forks, 55 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. etcd leads on adoption by 1,099% (52,441 vs 4,372 stars). etcd is written in Go under Apache-2.0; tbls is written in Go under MIT. etcd has attracted 20% as many forks as stars, tbls 5%. 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 | tbls | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 52K | ★ 4.4K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Go | Go |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-10-31 |
| Forks | ⑂ 11K | ⑂ 216 |
| 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 tbls if
- You want the tbls feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and tbls 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 tbls
tbls (pronounced /ˈteɪbl̩z/) is a CI Friendly tool to document a database, written in Go. Key features of tbls are: Document a database automatically in GFM format. Output database schema in many formats. Single binary = CI Friendly. Support many databases. Work as linter for database Table of Contents Quick Start Install Getting Started Document a database Diff database and (document or database) Lint a database Measure document coverage Continuous Integration Configuration Name Description Labels DSN Support Datasource Document path Document format ER diagram Filter tables Lint Comments Relations Viewpoints…
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Frequently asked questions
Is etcd or tbls more popular?
etcd has 52,441 GitHub stars and tbls has 4,372. etcd has the larger community by that measure.
Are etcd and tbls free?
Both are open source. etcd is licensed under Apache-2.0 and tbls under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between etcd and tbls?
etcd is written in Go and tbls 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 tbls?
Choose etcd if you want the larger community (52,441 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose tbls if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.