head to head · open source
liam vs typedb
liam has 5,116 GitHub stars, 239 forks, 29 open issues and last shipped yesterday. typedb has 4,458 stars, 375 forks, 310 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. liam leads on adoption by 15% (5,116 vs 4,458 stars). liam is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0; typedb is written in Rust under MPL-2.0. liam has attracted 5% as many forks as stars, typedb 8%. liam was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (database), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
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
| liam | typedb | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 5.1K | ★ 4.5K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MPL-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-09-19 | 2026-09-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 239 | ⑂ 375 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick liam if
- You weight community size — 5.1K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick typedb if
- You want the typedb feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MPL-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You evaluated both and typedb fits your workflow better
About liam
Liam is an open source TypeScript tool that automatically generates beautiful, interactive ER diagrams from an existing database schema, built for developers and teams who need to read, document, and share the structure of a database without drawing diagrams by hand.
About typedb
TypeDB is an open source database project written in Rust and licensed under MPL 2.0. It lives in the database and knowledge representation ecosystem, and its registry category covers content, documentation, and knowledge bases. The project introduces TypeQL as its query language and targets nested, interconnected data expressed through a strongly typed schema rather than only through tables, documents, or graph edges.
read the full typedb overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is liam or typedb more popular?
liam has 5,116 GitHub stars and typedb has 4,458. liam has the larger community by that measure.
Are liam and typedb free?
Both are open source. liam is licensed under Apache-2.0 and typedb under MPL-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between liam and typedb?
liam is written in TypeScript and typedb 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, liam or typedb?
Choose liam if you want the larger community (5,116 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose typedb if its feature set, stack or MPL-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.