head to head · open source
parse-server vs lakeFS
parse-server has 21,397 GitHub stars, 4,813 forks, 561 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. lakeFS has 5,575 stars, 490 forks, 443 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. parse-server leads on adoption by 284% (21,397 vs 5,575 stars). parse-server is written in JavaScript under Apache-2.0; lakeFS is written in Go under a custom or non-standard licence. parse-server has attracted 22% as many forks as stars, lakeFS 9%. parse-server 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
| parse-server | lakeFS | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 21K | ★ 5.6K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Custom / other |
| Written in | JavaScript | Go |
| Last push | 2026-11-01 | 2026-11-01 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.8K | ⑂ 490 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick parse-server if
- You weight community size — 21K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick lakeFS if
- You want the lakeFS feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and lakeFS fits your workflow better
About parse-server
[ ][open collective link] [ ][open collective link] Parse Server is an open source backend that can be deployed to any infrastructure that can run Node.js. Parse Server works with the Express web application framework. It can be added to existing web applications, or run by itself. The full documentation for Parse Server is available in the wiki. The Parse Server guide is a good place to get started. An API reference and Cloud Code guide are also available. If you're interested in developing for Parse Server, the Development guide will help you get set up. A big thank you 🙏 to our sponsors and backers who…
read the full parse-server overview →
About lakeFS
lakeFS is Data Version Control (Git for Data) lakeFS is an open source tool that transforms your object storage into a Git like repository. It enables you to manage your data lake the way you manage your code. With lakeFS you can build repeatable, atomic, and versioned data lake operations from complex ETL jobs to data science and analytics. lakeFS supports AWS S3, Azure Blob Storage, and Google Cloud Storage as its underlying storage service. It is API compatible with S3 and works seamlessly with all modern data frameworks such as Spark, Hive, AWS Athena, DuckDB, and Presto. For more information, see the…
read the full lakeFS overview →
More in Data & Analytics
Related comparisons
More Data Warehousing & Processing projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Data Warehousing & Processing field.
Frequently asked questions
Is parse-server or lakeFS more popular?
parse-server has 21,397 GitHub stars and lakeFS has 5,575. parse-server has the larger community by that measure.
Are parse-server and lakeFS free?
Both are open source. parse-server is licensed under Apache-2.0, and lakeFS has no licence declared in this registry. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between parse-server and lakeFS?
parse-server is written in JavaScript and lakeFS 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, parse-server or lakeFS?
Choose parse-server if you want the larger community (21,397 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose lakeFS if its feature set, stack or Custom / other licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.