head to head · open source
mall vs chartdb
mall has 84,789 GitHub stars, 29,826 forks, 15 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. chartdb has 22,919 stars, 1,482 forks, 170 open issues and last shipped 5 days ago. mall leads on adoption by 270% (84,789 vs 22,919 stars). mall is written in Java under Apache-2.0; chartdb is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0. mall has attracted 35% as many forks as stars, chartdb 6%. mall was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (mysql), 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
| mall | chartdb | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 85K | ★ 23K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Java | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-15 | 2026-09-13 |
| Forks | ⑂ 30K | ⑂ 1.5K |
| 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 chartdb if
- You want the chartdb feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and chartdb 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 chartdb
ChartDB is an open source, web based database diagram editor that visualizes and designs a database schema from a single SQL query, and it is built for developers, DBAs, and data teams who need entity relationship diagrams without installing a desktop client or handing database credentials to a third party service.
read the full chartdb overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is mall or chartdb more popular?
mall has 84,789 GitHub stars and chartdb has 22,919. mall has the larger community by that measure.
Are mall and chartdb free?
Both are open source. mall is licensed under Apache-2.0 and chartdb under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between mall and chartdb?
mall is written in Java and chartdb 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, mall or chartdb?
Choose mall if you want the larger community (84,789 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose chartdb if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.