head to head · open source
mall vs mdserver-web
mall has 84,792 GitHub stars, 29,827 forks, 15 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. mdserver-web has 4,520 stars, 717 forks, 7 open issues and last shipped 5 days ago. mall leads on adoption by 1,776% (84,792 vs 4,520 stars). mall is written in Java under Apache-2.0; mdserver-web is written in Python under Apache-2.0. mall has attracted 35% as many forks as stars, mdserver-web 16%. 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 | mdserver-web | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 85K | ★ 4.5K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Java | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-15 | 2026-09-13 |
| Forks | ⑂ 30K | ⑂ 717 |
| 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 mdserver-web if
- You want the mdserver-web feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and mdserver-web 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 mdserver-web
mdserver web is a simple, Apache 2.0 licensed Linux server control panel written in Python that gives administrators a browser based way to manage websites, databases and the software stack behind them.
read the full mdserver-web overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is mall or mdserver-web more popular?
mall has 84,792 GitHub stars and mdserver-web has 4,520. mall has the larger community by that measure.
Are mall and mdserver-web free?
Both are open source. mall is licensed under Apache-2.0 and mdserver-web under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between mall and mdserver-web?
mall is written in Java and mdserver-web in Python. 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 mdserver-web?
Choose mall if you want the larger community (84,792 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose mdserver-web if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.