head to head · open source
mall vs dolt
mall has 84,789 GitHub stars, 29,826 forks, 15 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. dolt has 24,458 stars, 873 forks, 583 open issues and last shipped yesterday. mall leads on adoption by 247% (84,789 vs 24,458 stars). mall is written in Java under Apache-2.0; dolt is written in Go under Apache-2.0. mall has attracted 35% as many forks as stars, dolt 4%. dolt 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 | dolt | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 85K | ★ 24K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Java | Go |
| Last push | 2026-09-15 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 30K | ⑂ 873 |
| 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 dolt if
- You want the dolt feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and dolt 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 dolt
Dolt is an Apache 2.0 licensed, Go written SQL database that versions tables the way Git versions files, built for developers, data teams, and AI agent builders who need database state they can fork, clone, branch, merge, push, and pull.
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Frequently asked questions
Is mall or dolt more popular?
mall has 84,789 GitHub stars and dolt has 24,458. mall has the larger community by that measure.
Are mall and dolt free?
Both are open source. mall is licensed under Apache-2.0 and dolt under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between mall and dolt?
mall is written in Java and dolt 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, mall or dolt?
Choose mall if you want the larger community (84,789 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose dolt if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.