head to head · open source
mall vs HeidiSQL
mall has 84,799 GitHub stars, 29,830 forks, 15 open issues and last shipped 5 days ago. HeidiSQL has 6,274 stars, 587 forks, 324 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. mall leads on adoption by 1,252% (84,799 vs 6,274 stars). mall is written in Java under Apache-2.0; HeidiSQL is written in Pascal under GPL-2.0. mall has attracted 35% as many forks as stars, HeidiSQL 9%. HeidiSQL 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
| mall | HeidiSQL | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 85K | ★ 6.3K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | GPL-2.0 |
| Written in | Java | Pascal |
| Last push | 2026-09-15 | 2026-09-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 30K | ⑂ 587 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick mall if
- You weight community size — 85K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Java
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick HeidiSQL if
- You want the HeidiSQL feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Pascal
- You evaluated both and HeidiSQL fits your workflow better
About mall
mall is a complete e commerce system built on Spring Boot and MyBatis, distributed as a Java project under the Apache 2.0 license. It ships two applications in one repository: a storefront system for shoppers and an administrative back office for operators. The storefront covers the home portal, product recommendation, product search, product display, shopping cart, order flow, member center, customer service, and help center. The back office covers product management, order management, member management, promotion management, operations management, content management, statistics reports, finance management, perm…
About HeidiSQL
HeidiSQL is a free, GPL 2.0 licensed graphical client for managing MariaDB, MySQL, Microsoft SQL Server, PostgreSQL, SQLite, Interbase and Firebird databases, aimed at developers and database administrators who need to browse, edit and export data without working from a command line.
read the full HeidiSQL overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is mall or HeidiSQL more popular?
mall has 84,799 GitHub stars and HeidiSQL has 6,274. mall has the larger community by that measure.
Are mall and HeidiSQL free?
Both are open source. mall is licensed under Apache-2.0 and HeidiSQL under GPL-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between mall and HeidiSQL?
mall is written in Java and HeidiSQL in Pascal. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, mall or HeidiSQL?
Choose mall if you want the larger community (84,799 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose HeidiSQL if its feature set, stack or GPL-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.