head to head · open source
PocketBase vs herdr
PocketBase has 61,103 GitHub stars, 3,694 forks, 19 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. herdr has 39,695 stars, 2,992 forks, 337 open issues and last shipped today. PocketBase leads on adoption by 54% (61,103 vs 39,695 stars). PocketBase is written in Go under MIT; herdr is written in Rust under Apache-2.0. PocketBase has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, herdr 8%. herdr 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
| PocketBase | herdr | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 61K | ★ 40K |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Go | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-20 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.7K | ⑂ 3.0K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick PocketBase if
- You weight community size — 61K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick herdr if
- You want the herdr feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You evaluated both and herdr fits your workflow better
About PocketBase
PocketBase is an open source backend framework written in Go that bundles a SQLite database, authentication, file storage, admin dashboard, and REST API into a single executable file. It lives in the Go ecosystem and targets developers who want a lightweight, self contained backend without managing separate services like PostgreSQL, Redis, or a separate auth server.
read the full PocketBase overview →
About herdr
herdr is a terminal first runtime for coding agents — a single Rust binary that owns the terminals in which tools such as Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, OpenCode and Grok run, aimed at developers who keep agents working across local and remote machines and want those sessions to survive a lost SSH connection or a closed client.
read the full herdr overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is PocketBase or herdr more popular?
PocketBase has 61,103 GitHub stars and herdr has 39,695. PocketBase has the larger community by that measure.
Are PocketBase and herdr free?
Both are open source. PocketBase is licensed under MIT and herdr under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between PocketBase and herdr?
PocketBase is written in Go and herdr in Rust. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, PocketBase or herdr?
Choose PocketBase if you want the larger community (61,103 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose herdr if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.