head to head · open source
mall vs FreeSql
mall has 84,792 GitHub stars, 29,827 forks, 15 open issues and last shipped 4 days ago. FreeSql has 4,404 stars, 910 forks, 178 open issues and last shipped 2 months ago. mall leads on adoption by 1,825% (84,792 vs 4,404 stars). mall is written in Java under Apache-2.0; FreeSql is written in C# under MIT. mall has attracted 35% as many forks as stars, FreeSql 21%. 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.
← all 13541 open source comparisons
Side by side
| mall | FreeSql | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 85K | ★ 4.4K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Java | C# |
| Last push | 2026-09-15 | 2026-07-31 |
| Forks | ⑂ 30K | ⑂ 910 |
| 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 FreeSql if
- You want the FreeSql feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches C#
- You evaluated both and FreeSql 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 FreeSql
FreeSql is an MIT licensed object relational mapper for .NET, written in C and usable from C and VB.NET, which its maintainers describe as the first AOT ORM, and it is aimed at .NET teams that want a single data access layer across many relational and analytical databases, including MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQL Server, Oracle, SQLite, Firebird, ClickHouse, DuckDB, TDengine, QuestDB, MsAccess and a group of Chinese domestic engines.
read the full FreeSql overview →
More in Infrastructure & Operations
Related comparisons
More Databases projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Databases field.
Frequently asked questions
Is mall or FreeSql more popular?
mall has 84,792 GitHub stars and FreeSql has 4,404. mall has the larger community by that measure.
Are mall and FreeSql free?
Both are open source. mall is licensed under Apache-2.0 and FreeSql under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between mall and FreeSql?
mall is written in Java and FreeSql in C#. 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 FreeSql?
Choose mall if you want the larger community (84,792 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose FreeSql if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.