head to head · open source
glance vs databag
glance has 37,981 GitHub stars, 1,506 forks, 318 open issues and last shipped yesterday. databag has 1,510 stars, 100 forks, 59 open issues and last shipped 5 months ago. glance leads on adoption by 2,415% (37,981 vs 1,510 stars). glance is written in Go under AGPL-3.0; databag is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0. glance has attracted 4% as many forks as stars, databag 7%. glance 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.
← all 20902 open source comparisons
Side by side
| glance | databag | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 38K | ★ 1.5K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Go | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-06-14 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.5K | ⑂ 100 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick glance if
- You weight community size — 38K stars and counting
- You want the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick databag if
- You want the databag 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 databag fits your workflow better
About glance
Glance Install • Configuration • Discord • Sponsor Community widgets • Preconfigured pages • Themes A lightweight, highly customizable dashboard that displays your feeds in a beautiful, streamlined interface Features Various widgets RSS feeds Subreddit posts Hacker News posts Weather forecasts YouTube channel uploads Twitch channels Market prices Docker containers status Server stats Custom widgets and many more... Fast and lightweight Low memory usage Few dependencies Minimal vanilla JS Single Configuration Configuration is done through YAML files, to learn more about how the layout works, how to add more pages…
read the full glance overview →
About databag
Databag A federated messenger for self hosting Design Overview Mobile and Browser App Screens Databag is designed for efficiency, consuming minimal hosting resources. Notable features include: Decentralized (direct communication between app and server node) Federated (accounts on different nodes can communicate) Public Private key based identity (not bound to any blockchain or hosting domain) End to End encryption (the hosting admin cannot view topics if sealed) Audio and Video Calls (nat traversal requires separate relay server) Topic based threads (messages organized by topic not contacts) Unlimited…
read the full databag overview →
More in Community & Social
Related comparisons
More Social Networking projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Social Networking field.
Frequently asked questions
Is glance or databag more popular?
glance has 37,981 GitHub stars and databag has 1,510. glance has the larger community by that measure.
Are glance and databag free?
Both are open source. glance is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and databag under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between glance and databag?
glance is written in Go and databag 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, glance or databag?
Choose glance if you want the larger community (37,981 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose databag if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.